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©ards^Bible 
ehurch^Religion 

OR 

Bible — dhuuirclhi — Religion! 

EXPLAINED BY A DECK OF 

Fifty-three Playieg Cards 




BY 

Rev. Stephen Duren 



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CHICAGO 

J. S. HYLAND & COMPANY I 

1912 

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COPYRIGHTED BY 
REY. STEPHEN DUREN 



ALL TRANSLATIONS INTO OTHER LANGUAGES ARE PROHIBITED 
WITHOUT PERMISSION FROM THE AUTHOR 



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Nihil Obstat 

REV. A. F. AMIRAULT 

Censor Deputatus 






Messrs. J. S. Hyland & Co. 

443 South Dearborn St., 

CHICAGO, ILL. 
Gentlemen: 

This book has a most worthy 
object, which, in addition to its 
instructive contents and the fasci- 
nating manner of presenting them, 
ought to induce many thousands 
to buy it and to urge every pur- 
chaser to persuade many others to 
buy it. All proceeds will be 
devoted by the author to the 
Catholic education of poor neg- 
lected orphaned Colored children, 
whose immortal souls are as pre- 
cious in the sight of God and as 
dear to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, 
as those of white people. 

Respectfully, 

REV. STEPHEN DUREN 



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© GOD'S Greater Glory, 
To the Americaie People 
io General and" 



vert Frieeds im Particular 

This Book Is Respectfully 

Dedicated 



PREFACE. 

i. This is an age of pictures. Nearly all the branches 
of learning in the school room can now be taught by 
pictures, by lantern slides, stereopticon views and 
motion pictures. These instructions are used daily 
to amuse and instruct millions in the theatres. The 
great lessons of the Bible and of religious doctrine are 
inculcated by the same means through the eye, and yet 
this manner of teaching and of conveying thoughts and 
ideas and knowledge and truths of every description 
is only in its infancy. This age demands — and it is a 
sign of progress — that writers of books convey ideas 
and knowledge and truths, be they of whatsoever na- 
ture they may, in more vivid forms, than through 
mere composition and spelling out of words ; for 
more things are taught and better received and better 
retained through the eye, than through the ear. This 
is an age of reading and seeing, of observation more 
than of listening. And just because there is more 
reading and more seeing, it is all the more difficult and 
all the more important, too, to write and present things 
and truths and knowledge and ideas in new ways and 
in new styles and in new representations and in new 
forms and in new pictures. 

That explains in a few words this book and its novel 
manner of presenting great and important truths. In 
it are contained great facts of history, of sociology, of 
science and of arts. All the great lessons of the Bible 
and all doctrines and practices of the Catholic Church, 



8 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

what we believe and what we do not believe, are here 
clearly represented in 53 pictures. 

All great questions concerning a Supreme Being, 
concerning the origin and preservation of this visible 
universe, concerning the origin and end and destiny of 
man, about all of which the wise heathen philosophers 
of antiquity thought and reasoned and wrote so much 
and concerning which modern infidels still continue to 
talk and write nonsense, are all clearly explained and 
illustrated by the 53 playing cards in a card-deck. 
And it is done in such a new, novel and fascinating 
manner, that, when you once start to read, you will not 
be satisfied, until you have reached the end and it will 
bear reading a second and a third time and then some 
more. 

The four-fold title of the book itself is represented 
by the four suits of the card-deck. 

2. This book will have criticisers of all kinds: 
friendly, which are very desirable, absurd and sarcas- 
tic. To these latter two the just reply can be made, 
that the field is open to them to write something bet- 
ter. But their attention is called to what our Blessed 
Lord did, how Jesus taught and presented his great 
truths, as they are laid down in the Bible. When he 
walked by the sea, teaching the multitude, which fol- 
lowed him there, he spoke to them of the fishes and of 
the nets and presented his truths by pictures of fishes 
and nets. When he spoke in the synagogue, he dis- 
coursed to them on the law. When he was away from 
home, going from city to city through the fields and 
meadows and woods, he spoke to them of the growing 
crops, of grazing herds, of flowers and grass, of trees 
and vines and birds, rain and sunshine. When he 



PREFACE 9 

spoke to the woman at the well, he spoke of the 
waters of life. He made use of all such picture illus- 
trations, as those, to whom he spoke, readily under- 
stood and remembered, in order to bring all to God and 
to the observation of his holy law. Now, that is pre- 
cisely the object of this book, to teach the multitudes 
great fundamental truths of Christianity. It is here 
done not by high-sounding phrases, nor by great word 
pictures, which the majority of readers would not 
understand, but by pictures drawn from the surround- 
ings, in which people' will read and will play cards. 
People will read in their homes and will play cards 
in their homes. People will read in the railroad cars 
and will play cards in the railroad cars. People will 
read in club rooms and will play cards in club rooms. 
People will read in hotels and boarding houses and 
will play cards there. People will buy books in book 
stores and from news stands and they will buy cards 
in the same places. People will play cards for amuse- 
ment and will read for amusement. There is no book 
of its nature and contents written, that sells on cars 
and news-stands and in book stores equally well. This 
is the book, that will sell everywhere and that will be 
read everywhere and by everybody, whose attention 
will be attracted to it, and it surely will be attractive 
to all without any distinction of nationality, or color, 
or creed, and thus through this book thousands will 
learn true knowledge and will obtain correct ideas 
about God and about their duties toward him and 
themselves and others, who otherwise would not hear 
of them or enjoy the blessing of having correct ideas 
and correct information about such all-important 
things. And the author knows the American mind to 
be such, that the majority will do their duty, when 



\ 



10 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

they see it, and this book is going to help thousands to 
see it. 

3. Why should such a book not be written, that will 
be in demand everywhere and by everybody and that 
will be attractive to everybody by its novelty and that 
will be understood by everybody in consequence of its 
simplicity, yet forcefulness of illustrations? Is there 
anything in the Bible, that we need be ashamed of? 
Surely not. Is there anything in the holy Catholic 
Church, her teachings and her practices, that we 
should hide? Certainly not. We know that we are 
right. We have the truth to tell, and after 29 years of 
experience, of teaching and preaching to both Catho- 
lics and non-Catholics, the author has learned to know, 
how to present those great truths. The accusation, 
that the card-deck is the Catholic Bible and Catholic 
religion, would be silly; just as silly, as to tell you, 
that the nail, on which you hang your hat, is your hat, 
or the hook, on which you hang your coat, is your 
coat. 

5. Nor can it be maintained, that this method of 
presenting great and holy truths is unbecoming and 
unworthy of the dignity due to the Word of God and 
to his holy Church, for there is absolutely nothing in- 
decent, nothing trivial, nothing degrading about the 
playing cards, neither in their makeup, nor in their 
representations, nor in their use, any more, than in the 
grain and the fruit of the vine, which Jesus employed 
for illustrations. "Yes, but their abuse/' critics will 
remark. Men will abuse and degrade the highest and 
holiest of things, let alone indifferent things. There is 
not a truth laid down in the Bible from that, that "God 
is love," to that, that there will be everlasting torment 
for the reprobate, which has not been abused and mis- 



PREFACE 11 

applied, and there is not a doctrine, nor a practice of 
his holy Catholic Church, which has not been misinter- 
preted. But all that proves nothing against the Bible, 
nor against the holy Catholic Church. It only proves 
the perverseness of men's minds, when they are not 
guided by the proper light, and, that more men may be 
guided by the true light, is precisely the object of this 
book. 

6. Again! It may be objected, that "this book will 
lead people to think and talk more of cards, than of 
the great truths presented by them, and to use cards 
more, than to carry out the teachings laid down in it 
by them." 

It was not so at the time of our Blessed Lord from 
his illustrations, and the author is willing to venture 
the responsibility, that it will not be so now ; for there 
is absolutely no incentive, no encouragement in this 
book to play cards. It will have the contrary effect. 
Nor is it necessary to know, how to play cards, in 
order to understand this book. Many will be induced 
to read this book instead of playing cards, and even, 
when an innocent game of cards is played for pastime, 
or for recreation, the knowledge of this book will 
bring many good thoughts and discussions during the 
game and not infrequently the discussions will become 
so interesting and enthusiastic, that the cards will be 
laid aside, and the discussion continued, and thus this 
book will not seldom be the means, that even amidst 
playing, God will not be forgotten. 

7. Still less will this book be an encouragement, or 
a condonement, to gamble. There is not a single com- 
parison made, that in the remotest way will lead to 
that or to any other evil. 



12 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

8. This book is not intended to contain a great, 
learned, dogmatical treatise on theology. The author 
has invariably sought to be eminently practical in all 
his sacerdotal labors for 29 years, for he has learned 
from observation, that not he, who is the most dog- 
matical in divine things, has the purest knowledge of 
them, but he, who is the most practical. Hence, all 
high-sounding, technical phrases and words have been 
studiously avoided; for this book is not written for 
learned theologians, but for the millions, who have had 
neither time, nor opportunity of briefly and simply, 
concisely and concretely, correctly and practically, 
learning the great truths contained in the Bible and the 
teaching of the Catholic Church, as they are exhibited 
in this book. 

It is an admitted fact, that the experiments and con- 
clusions and usefulness of visible things and of the 
natural sciences can be discerned and judged by the 
natural senses. Therefore, no one has any interest in 
being blind to those facts of nature. But there is a 
goodly number of men, who, though living often deco- 
rously, are contented with having only vague notions 
of the great and all-important truths, which concern 
their eternal happiness. This book will aid, cannot 
fail, to impart clearer knowledge of all of them to 
everyone, who will read it with a good and willing 
heart, which is not wanting in the American people; 
for they mean to be eminently fair. 

Men often brand our holy religion with the name of 
mysticism, fanaticism and superstition ; but that is only, 
because they do not clearly understand, that she is 
God's own institution and that her- laws and her teach- 
ings and practices are all founded on the Bible and the 
law of God. 



PREFACE 13 

9. Cards in this book are not used to prove anything 
by. They are merely used as illustrations and expla- 
nations and as a help to understand the great truths of 
the Catholic Bible and Catholic doctrine and practices 
and as something concrete, as something tangible and 
as something, that everyone is acquainted with, to at- 
tach the memory to and to remember things by. This 
book thus becomes a valuable assistance to a truly vir- 
tuous and God-fearing life and for a happy immortal- 
ity. 

It will be better understood and appreciated, if the 
reader will bear in mind, that the author has weighed 
every word three and four times over and has chosen 
every word designedly in preference to any other, and 
that the matters, crowded into this little book, are scat- 
tered in more than two thousand volumes. 

10. To simplify, to make clear and to impress still 
more through the eye the great truths on the memory, 
many divisions and subdivisions are employed. 

Few Scripture texts are quoted for proof. Only 
such citations are made that are right to the point. 

The manner of quotations is that usually adhered to, 
as, for instance: (3 Kgs 10, 1.) means, that that pas- 
sage, quoted, is found in the 3d Book of Kings in the 
10th chapter and in the 1st verse of the chapter. (Mt. 
12, -42.) means, that those words, given, are written in 
the gospel of St. Matthew in the 12th chapter and in 
the 42d verse. 

Other references to different parts, pages, chapters 
and numbers of this book are easily intelligible. 

The index is so very complete, that extensive head- 
ings under chapters was thought superfluous. 

it. This book is primarily written and adapted for 
non-Catholics. The author justly prides himself on 



14 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

having his warmest and best friends among them. 
Few, if any, understand the minds and doubts and per- 
plexities of the non-Catholic better than he does. Few, 
if any, have a higher regard for the honest opinions of 
non-Catholics, for he knows, that none of his Ameri- 
can countrymen intend to be prejudiced. They do not 
want to be unfair neither with God, nor with them- 
selves, nor with others. They are willing to listen to 
the man, who is fair with them. We need not wonder, 
that people, who have not learned things about the 
Bible and the Catholic Church from Catholic sources, 
are prejudiced against them, because, as a rule, they 
have learned things from wrong sources. A game of 
cards seems silly to one who has not learned its rules 
by experience. He is prejudiced against them, nor can 
he learn to play from one, who does not know, how to 
play himself, but only from one who knows how from 
experience. Just so it is with the Bible and the Catho- 
lic Church and all her rules, teachings and practices. 
They must be learned from the proper, Catholic, 
sources, not from those, who only think, they know, 
but do not, nor from prejudiced sources, nor from 
those, who on account of their own condemnatory 
lives, are dissatisfied with her. The more the fair- 
minded American will study the Catholic Church, the 
better he will like her. He will be happy in the 
thought that he is no longer prejudiced and ignorant on 
things so important, that Almighty God himself 
deigned to reveal them to us and to institute an organ- 
ization that would, could and should continue to teach 
them to all men until the end of time. 

12. i) If by this book one precious immortal soul 
will be saved, the author's reward will be very great, 
indeed. 



PREFACE 15 

2) If through this book there will be one true con- 
version, the author's reward will be ample. 

3) If in consequence of this book one single mortal 
sin less will be committed, the author's reward will be 
very gratifying. 

4) If this book will be instrumental, that even one 
sin less grievous, than a mortal sin, will be committed 
less, the author's rewafd will be very satisfactory. 

5) If by this book only one spark more of God's 
precious grace, which is worth more than all the goods 
of this world, will corne into one soul, the author's 
labors will be well repaid. 

6) If by this book only one true act of faith, hope 
and charity, will be made — and there will be many — 
the author's reward will be abundant. 

7) If by this book only a little more knowledge of 
God will be brought into one mind and heart — and it 
will do so to thousands — the author's reward will be 
plentiful. 

8) If by this book the prejudices against the Bible 
and the Catholic Church will be dispelled out of only 
one fair mind and heart — and it will do so in thou- 
sands of cases — the author's reward will be adequate. 

With God's grace and guidance he dares to hope for 
all these rewards. 

If there is any word, phrase, expression, illustra- 
tion, sentence, opinion, or teaching in this book, that in 
any way is contrary to the teaching of the One Holy 
Catholic Apostolic Church, the author hereby unre- 
servedly recalls and repudiates it or them. 



PART ONE. 

CHAPTER I. 



Origin and History of Playing Cards. 

Everything has its history. The deck of playing 
cards is no exception. If we wish to speak, or write 
intelligently on a subject, it is of importance to know 
the history of that subject. It is not otherwise with 
playing cards. 

From A. D. 1368 to 1422 Charles VI was king of 
France. He had peculiar spells, bordering on insanity 
and levity, due, as his historians relate, to a bad, torpid, 
liver. Because he was almost insane sometimes, he 
was feared. Hence, he was nick-named "The Mad". 
Because he was jolly at other times, he was liked by 
the nobles, who had access to him and who had little 
else to do, than to spend their time in jollification. 
Hence, his nick-name, "The Beloved". 

In order to amuse him and to keep his mind from 
brooding on unpleasant things and to preserve in him 
a more evenness of temper and to have a good excuse 
to be in his, to them desirable company a good deal 
of their leisure time, it is said, they invented the playing 
cards and the performance of several games with them. 

This is the origin and history of our common playing 
cards in their present form. Everybody knows, what 
they are and what they look like. There will be scarcely 
one among 10,000 readers of this book, who have never 
seen a deck of playing cards. Hence, it is superfluous 
to describe their appearance or the material, of which 
they are made. 



MEANING OF CARDS 17 

CHAPTER IL 



Meaning of Playing Cards. Types of the Human 
Race. Geography. 

The four suits of cards, Hearts, Diamonds, Spades, 
Clubs, were invented for the purpose of representing 
the four classes of men in France at that time and, also, 
perhaps, unwittingly, for representing the entire human 
race past, present and likely for all future time. 

1. HEARTS. The <first and highest class were the 
"churchmen". They were the ecclesiastics, the bishops 
and priests, the highest dignitaries. They were, also, 
the class most beloved by the common people, because 
they defended more the rights of the common people, 
than any other class. Hence, they were represented by 
the symbol of love, by hearts. The color of hearts is 
red, signifying the burning flame of love. 

2. SPADES, in French "pic", in Spanish "espa- 
das". The French word signifies pike, lance, which has 
a shape similar to our shovel, or spade. Hence our 
name for this card. The Spanish word means sword. 

The second class constituted the nobility. It was, 
also, the military class as well, as the class of civil 
officers and the ruling, governing, power. This class 
was represented by the card of spade, because it was a 
figure of their weapon, the pike, the sword, which in 
turn represented some of their treatment of the people, 
frequently inflicting pain and causing sadness. That is 
the reason why its color is black, the color of sadness, 
the color of mourning. 

In the United States we call this card by the more 
useful name of spades. It is here a figure of industry 
and it is a much more useful and humane tool, than the 



18 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

instrument of war of the often warlike, domineering 
and sometimes tyranizing nobility of the old world. 

3. DIAMONDS. This card designates the third 
class, which constituted that order of citizens, known as 
tradesmen, merchants, mechanics, manufacturers, job- 
bers, contractors, speculators, in a word, the money- 
making class. The color of diamonds is red. It indicates 
the shining silver and gold, the glitter of wealth, the 
worldly, passing glory of earthly possessions. 

4. CLUBS. This card represented the fourth 
class, which included the farmers, the common people 
and all others, who were not grouped among the other 
three classes. It is not known, how this trefoil, or clo- 
ver leaf, came to be called clubs, unless it is, that that 
class, represented by them, was punished, "clubbed," 
most by the ruling powers of government and com- 
merce, by the classes two and three. The German 
word would, also, lead us to draw this same inference, 
for "Kreutzer" means "crosses/' though the word is 
likely taken from the figure on the card, which is that 
of a cross, and it, also, admits of the same interpreta- 
tions, it being significant of the crosses inflicted upon 
this humbler class, the masses of mankind. 

The color of clubs is very appropriately black, mean- 
ing, that the class represented by them was often made 
to mourn. 

CHAPTER III. 



Lessons from Cards. 

Every card-game has a leading, winning card, called 
trump. Spades remind us that labor is the leading 
trump in this world's affairs. Without continuous 
labor, little will be accomplished. Without ceaseless 



LESSONS FROM CARDS 19 

energy, progress will be slow. Without close applica- 
tion, only small competency can be looked for. With- 
out diligent toil of the hands, but slight comfort and 
less leisure can be expected. Without earnest toil of 
the brain, ignorance is apt to prevail. Many of the 
most successful men, who have laid up a competency, 
have done so only at the expense of a great deal of 
hard toil, toil of the hands and toil of the mind. 

2. Clubs remind us, that for all good things we 
must be aggressive. In many things we must force 
our way, not by brute force, not by violence, not by 
dishonest means, but by superior energy, by upright- 
ness, by leading virtuous lives, by being shining exam- 
ples of honesty, of diligence, sobriety, good habits, 
good morals and of faithful children of God and his 
true Church. This is doubly true in this glorious 
country of ours, where the opportunities are many and 
where the avenues of success and distinction are open 
to every man, woman and child. 

3. Diamonds remind us, that money and worldly 
possessions are good things to have, if justly and hon- 
estly acquired and if prudently and virtuously and 
charitably applied; for then they are neither a curse 
nor a disgrace. But the diamond card reminds us, too, 
that not everything, that glitters is gold, which means, 
that money alone cannot make anyone truly happy, nor 
loved, nor great, and that it is as elusive, as a promis- 
ing hand of cards, that some other and better hand 
demolishes. Riches soften few hearts ; but harden 
many. Wealth degrades many; but elevates few. 
Money dissipates many ; but ennobles few. Hence, we 
should not strive after these things for their own sake, 
nor, which is even worse, because with them we can 
gratify base passions, or obtain imaginary worldly 



20 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

glory, or as a means, by which fools seek the empty 
praise and selfish flattery of other fools, but we should 
labor for them only as a means for an honest livelihood 
and for doing all the good we can, in every way we can, 
to every one we can, in every place we can, at all the 
time we can, and as long as we can. 

4. As no game of cards can be played well with 
spades, clubs, and diamonds alone, thus hearts remind 
us, that after all, labor, energy and money are worth 
very little, if anything, without love, of which hearts 
are a fitting emblem : not of that love, however, which 
is only like a morning dream, whose memory glides 
along the day, but that love, which is a fountain of true 
charity; that love, which lightens toil and sweetens 
privations ; that love, which divides our troubles, shares 
our sorrows and increases our joys ; smooths the wrin- 
kled cheeks, brightens the sunken eyes, decreases the 
burden on bent shoulders, softens the toil-hardened 
hands and relieves the weight on silvery hair and 
brings sunshine into lives, hearts and homes ; that love 
which is ever a guiding star to upright, virtuous living 
and to a better, brighter world. 

CHAPTER IV. 



History and Sociology in Cards. 

1. The four kings of the card-deck represent the 
four great monarchies: The 1) Jews, 2) Greeks, 3) 
Romans and 4) Franks. 

1) The Jews are represented by King David, and 
he is represented by the king of hearts. This typifies, 
that he did more out of love for God and for his peo- 
ple, than any of the other three great kings did for 
their people, and that he, too, consequently, was more 



HISTORY IN CARDS 



21 



beloved, honored, respect- 
ed and obeyed by his peo- 
ple, than were the other 
three kings by their people. 
2) The Greeks are rep- 
resented by Alexander the 
Great. He is called great, 
not because he did any- 
thing great, noble and last- 
ing for God and for his 
people, as King David did, 
but because he was the 
greatest conqueror, that 
the world has ever seen, 
for he conquered the, at 
that time entire, known 
world. He was simply a 





robber and murderer on 
so vast a scale, that man- 
kind in contemplating his 
career has lost sight of the 
enormous wickedness of 
his crimes in its astonish- 
ment of the unequaled 
magnitude of his opera- 
tions. That is the reason, 
why in the playing cards 
he is represented by the 
king of spades, the orig- 
inal meaning of which 
was pike, sword, the in- 
strument of murder. 

3) The Romans are 
represented by Julius Cae- 



22 



CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 



sar, the great Roman general and dictator. He 
humbled and "clubbed" more people, than any of 
their other generals. That is the reason, why he is 
represented by the king of clubs. Historians may say 
of him, what they please, he is, nevertheless, repre- 
sented by an instrument of torture, rapine and cruelty 
and the color of dark deeds, crime, lust, suffering, 
mourning and death. 

4) The Franks, in fact 
all christian people are 
represented by Charle- 
magne the Great. He was 
emperor of Germany and 
king of France. He was a 
good, pius, virtuous, wise 
and humane ruler. He 
sought to better the con- 
ditions of all his subjects 
both spiritually and tern-* 
porally. He placed true 
Christianity upon a firm 
footing in his mighty em- 
pire. He is represented 
by the king of diamonds, 
which very appropriately 
designates the preciousness of the Catholic faith and 
Catholic Church, which he zealously fostered through- 
out his vast domains. Its color is red, being emble- 
matic of the many golden-red, shining virtues, which 
that faith produced in countless millions of immortal 
souls, as the rich fruit of his wondrous works. 

Some one of the four suits is trump in every game of 
cards. The smallest trump card can knock out and 
take the biggest card of any of the other three suits, 




HISTORY IN CARDS 



23 



which are not trump. He, who holds the hands of the 
highest trumps most frequently, can knock out the 
others and win the game. But trump changes about 
among the four suits. Between the players good card- 
hands and trump and winning cards change about, too. 
Thus it was among those four great kings. The same 
can be said of many other great and mighty ones of 
this world. They wer£ trump for a while and won for 
a while, and then the scene was changed. The works 
of Alexander and Caesar are gone by, like themselves. 
We read with disgust of their deeds of horror and mur- 
der, rapine and vice and crime. They are examples to 
be shunned. None, but a cruel tyrant and inhuman 
despot could wish to imitate their example. 

The countless good and noble deeds of King David 
and Charlemagne, however, live after them. Through 
all the centuries their names have been and ever 
will be pronounced with 
benediction by countless 
millions, and the good, 
that they have done, al- 
ways has been and ever 
will be a powerful incen- 
tive to right living for un- 
numbered generations. 

2. The four queens in 
our deck of playing cards 
are types of i) humility, 
2) fortitude, 3) prudence, 
and 4) wisdom. And how 
so? In this manner: 

1 ) The queen of hearts 
is a type of the Queen of 




24 



CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 



Sheba. Holy Scripture (3 Kgs 10, 1 ; Mt. 12, 42,) tells 
us of her, that she, a heathen queen, came from a dis- 
tant country, the southern parts of Arabia, to the wise 
man, King Solomon, to be instructed in the knowledge 
of the true God. God blessed her for her humility; 
for she obtained, what she sought and she returned into 
her own country, rejoicing with the knowledge and. 
love of the true God in her heart. Thus the queen of 
hearts in cards teaches us, that humility is the founda- 
tion of all true knowledge and true faith and true love 
of God, and to seek that true knowledge, as queen 
Sheba did, where it is to be found, in God's true 
Church, whom God has enlightened with wisdom, as 
he had given it to Solomon. 

Why is she represented by hearts? Because hearts 
is the emblem of love, and she did truly love God, after 
she had learned to know 
him. 

2) The queen of spades 
is a figure of Judith. The 
Bible relates of her, that 
she went fearlessly, armed 
with true piety, into the 
camp of the enemy of the 
Chosen People of God and 
there with her own hands 
cut off the head of their 
bloodthirsty general, Ho- 
lofernes, with his own 
sword. This clearly dem- 
onstrates, that God is with 
the good and pius and with 
all, who firmly confide in 




HISTORY IN CARDS 



25 



him and that on whose side God is, that side is the 
majority and in the end is bound to win. (P. 81.) 

Why is she represented 
by the queen of Spades? 
Because she used the 
sword as a weapon to 
save God's people from 
destruction, and this card 
was originally represented 
by the pike, the sword. 

The queen of spades, 
however, does not teach 
us, that we should employ 
this instrument of mur- 
der, but use christian for- 
titude, grounded on true 
piety and the fear and 
love of God, to conquer 
our common enemy, sin, 
the devil and the world, but that we should, also, 
avail ourselves of all lawful and natural means, as, for 
instance, is done in this book, where common playing 
cards, innocent things, are used constantly to explain 
great truths. This can be further illustrated by a nice 
little story. A girl of twelve years of age was punctual 
at her attendance in Sunday school. She had a young- 
er brother, who often neglected to go to Sunday school 
on account of his many playthings. One Sunday upon 
her return from Sunday school she saw her brother 
with his playthings in the yard. She went out to him 
and started to pray for him, saying: "O, God, give 
my brother light, that he may see, how wicked it is 
to neglect to go to Sunday school and to learn to 
know thee and his duties toward thee, himself and 




26 



CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 



his fellow men, for I fear, 
he will become a bad 
man." And, while she was 
still praying, she took a 
club and started to smash 
and kick his playthings all 
to pieces and then threw 
them into a pond of water 
close by and said : "There, 
now, God, I think, that 
will help to make my 
brother a better boy." She 
exhibited true piety and 
fortitude, worthy of 
Judith. 

3) The queen of clubs 
is characteristic of Queen 





Esther. The Bible tells of 
her, that through her sa- 
gacity the plans of her 
enemies for destroying her 
and her people were ut- 
terly frustrated. Why is 
she represented by the 
queen of clubs? Because 
by her prudence the ene- 
mies of God's people were 
"clubbed" into submission. 

(P. 79-) 
Learn from the queen 

of clubs to ask God to 

guide you right in seeking 

after those great truths, 

which are necessary for 



HISTORY IN CARDS 27 

you to know and to follow for your protection against 
the enemies of both your temporal and eternal welfare. 

4) The queen of diamonds is a type of Pallas, who 
in heathen mythology was a heathen goddess of Greece. 
She was for the heathen people of that country the 
personification of diligence and wisdom and everything, 
that is good in the arts and sciences of life. 

Why is she represented by the queen of diamonds? 
Because, when diligence and wisdom are united, they 
will inevitably lead to health, knowledge, honor, respect, 
contentment, to a decent share of this world's goods, to 
virtue, piety, to the true faith in this world and to shin- 
ing diamonds of never fading glory in the next ; all of 
which is, also, indicated by the red, bright, glittering 
color of diamonds, and all of which are not only 
worthy of striving for, but are even necessary for our 
happiness. This illustration is taken designedly from 
a fable, to demonstrate, that we should not despise any 
means, that are not necessarily degrading, for learning 
great truths and lessons of life, as is being done in this 
book by the deck of playing cards. 

3. The four jacks of the playing cards. Jack has 
the same meaning as knave. Jacks originally were 
servants to knights and to other lords and masters. 

The servants and their occupations are so various 
and numerous, that it is impossible to enumerate them 
all, especially in this country, where the most of us are 
servants of some kind. The President of the United 
States is not a ruler ; he is a servant of the people. The 
congressman and statesman are servants. The gover- 
nors of states are the people's servants. Mayors and 
councils of cities are not bosses ; they are servants. 
Sheriffs and policemen are only servants. And thus 
it is from railroad and street car conductors to street- 



28 



CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 




SOCIOLOGY IN CARDS 29 

cleaners and working people of every description. 
And all these in the great social family of the human 
race are represented by the jacks in the card-deck. 

4. Besides kings, queens, and jacks, a deck of play- 
ing cards is made up of ten other cards for each suit of 
the four suits. Theseother cards have spots of their 
particular suit on them, running from one to ten. 
Those cards signify all the other innumerable and un- 
classified mass of humanity not coming under the 
headings of kings, quefens and jacks. Some of these 
cards at different times and in different ways and in 
different games are of considerable importance. Fre- 
quently they come very handy in the game and just as 
often they are discarded entirely. When they are used 
in the game, they are nearly always employed to assist 
the higher cards. Thus they represent this unclassified 
mass of mankind. Some one of them sometimes rises 
to prominence and power and extraordinary usefulness 
to some one of his f ellowmen ; yet all such are invari- 
ably in a condition to be only subservient to higher 
powers and not seldom are mere tools for the selfish- 
ness and greed of such higher powers. It has always 
largely been thus. It likely always will be. Cards are 
made of the same kind of material. So are all men of 
the same human nature. All are composed of a mortal 
body and an immortal soul. Cards all have the 
same form, all look alike on the back and all feel 
alike to the sense of touch. So are all men of the same 
human form and all have the appearance of human be- 
ings. Yet, when we look the cards in the face, we 
readily perceive a difference in each card, and each 
card has its own sign of distinction from each and 
every other card. So has every human being a sign of 



30 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

recognition by which he is known from every other 
one. Yet, it takes all the various cards to play a decent 
game. Just so it takes all these various classes of men, 
as typified by the different cards, though ever so differ- 
ent, to cause human society to hold together and to work 
together for its common good, happiness and progress. 
Perfect equality among men in all things is an impos- 
sibility. The idea, that there should be no superiors 
and, consequently, no inferiors, no masters, and conse- 
quently, no subjects, no employers and, consequently, 
no employees, is anarchistic and would not only sub- 
vert all order in society but would destroy society it- 
self. The plan, on which some have built castles of air 
in the air, that all goods and all possessions and all 
comforts should, with minute precision, be distributed 
equally among all men without any discrimination, 
would bring the world to a standstill. Those, who ad- 
vocate such misty, impracticable notions, are, for the 
most part, men of small minds and of still smaller 
hearts, who have let their best opportunities in life slip 
by unheeded, and who, consequently, have empty pock- 
ets and empty stomachs and big mouths. To establish 
perfect equality among men, it would be necessary to 
also endow all with equal abilities, equal knowledge, 
equal justice, equal charity and equal virtues, which 
neither those idle dreamers, nor all the wise men to- 
gether can achieve. No intelligent game of cards 
could be played, if all the cards were equal in all re- 
spects. Our human body would be a useless mass, if 
all the bones and joints and sinews and muscles and 
senses were without any distinction. Such a human 
body could not be thought of. Just so little can human 
society be thought of existing and progressing with all 
its members equal in every particular. After all has 



SOCIOLOGY IN CARDS 31 

been thought and said on this subject, and there surely 
is nothing new to be said on it, and nothing of human 
invention has been left untried without satisfactory 
and lasting results, there is only one way out of the 
misery, resulting from unjust treatment of the inferior 
by the superior, of the employed by the employer, of 
the weak by the powerful, and that is, to be guided by 
the ten commandments of God and the precepts of his 
holy Catholic Church; to adhere strictly to her teach- 
ings of christian forbearance, christian charity and 
christian justice, and to fully and at all times and in all 
circumstances obey a true, correct conscience. 

Trade unions and socialistic gatherings are wont to 
sneer at the Catholic Church. But there is no organi- 
zation under the sun, that has so consistently and per- 
sistently defended the rights of the laborer, as the 
Catholic Church. Every laborer, every peasant with- 
out distinction of race or color has always been of as 
much moment to her, as any prince or king. She has 
always placed human dignity — the fact that every one 
is created according to God's image and likeness, en- 
dowed with an immortal soul and destined to eternal 
happiness — so far above wealth, position and power, 
as the eternal heavens are above this earth. She has 
always been true to her divine commission of preach- 
ing the gospel to the poor. She has never made any 
discrimination as to race or color. Thousands of her 
white priests and sisters of charity have labored for 
centuries among the Mongolians, the Indians and 
the Negroes. The poor of every description have 
always been the object of her tenderest care. The 
oppressed, the abused and down-trodden have always 
been the object of her special charity. The poor and 
lowly and dark-skinned are just as welcome in her 



32 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

houses of divine worship and at her holy sacrifice of 
the Mass and in her sacred tribunal of confession and 
at her communion railing, as those in broadcloth, in 
silks and satin. The Catholic Church has always in- 
sisted upon decent conditions for the workingman, a 
sanitary atmosphere, reasonable hours, a living wage 
and the abolition of degrading child-labor. She has 
constantly demanded the Day of Rest for the laboring 
man and that he be treated by the employer, not as a 
tool, not as a money-making machine, but as a human 
being. 

But the Catholic Church has ideals given to her by 
her divine Founder. She stands for charity. But she 
does not stand for charity only. She stands for justice, 
too. She stands not only for that justice, which de- 
mands, that the employer treat the wage-earner justly, 
but, also, for that justice which demands, that the 
laboring man do justice to the employer. So long as 
the labor unions strive for justice by lawful means, so 
long the Catholic Church is their friend. But the 
Catholic Church cannot identify herself with the labor 
unions, just because they are made up of laborers, 
when they by unlawful means, by violence, by riotous 
strikes, or by dereliction of their duty, seek to obtain 
their real or imaginary rights regardless of the rights 
of the employer. He has rights as well, as they. His 
rights are as sacred as theirs. The Catholic Church 
defends the rights of both with equal impartiality. 
The labor unions often overlook this. The unions 
should make intemperance, indolence, carelessness, 
shiftlessness, dishonesty, absolute disqualifications for 
membership. They should make character a test for 
admission. They should eject all men leading double 
lives, or found guilty of breaking laws of a serious na- 



CARD-DECK A CALENDAR 33 

ture. They should insist, that the employer get justice 
as well, as the employed. If the union by virtue of its 
power, as a union, persuades the employer to give a 
just wage, the union should be the first to insist on the 
discharge of the man, who, because of idleness or self- 
indulgence, will not or does not render his full share 
of honest toil. 

Cards play best and fairest for all, when well mixed. 
Just so human society will get along better, when well 
mixed in charity and justice, when employer helps em- 
ployee and employee helps employer, as the Catholic 
Church teaches them to do. 

CHAPTER V. 



The Deck of Playing Cards a Calendar. 

A deck of common playing cards is not only a type 
of the human race past, present and, likely, for all 
future times, too, but it contains also a good bit of his- 
tory, both profane and sacred, and in it we can read a 
good deal about the social conditions of mankind. This, 
however, is not all. It is also a perpetual calendar. 

i. The deck itself represents the current year. The 
date of any year or month can easily be constructed 
from it. 

2. The four suits represent the four seasons of the 
year: i) Hearts stand for spring. It is the time of 
re-awakening life, when all nature becomes young 
again. It is the time of seeding and planting, the time 
of hope. 2) Diamonds stand for the summer time. It 
is the time of the rich, golden, glittering diamond har- 
vest. 3) Spades stand for autumn, when nature is laid 
to rest, buried. 4) Clubs stand for winter, when nature 
is subdued, "clubbed," into submission. 



34 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

3. There are 12 face-cards in a deck. They repre- 
sent the 12 months in a year. 

4. There are 13 weeks in a quarter of a year. They 
are marked out by the 13 cards in a suit. 

5. The days of the week and of any month can be 
composed from the cards without the least difficulty. 

6. There are 52 cards in a deck, not counting the 
joker, and there are 52 weeks in a year. Thus, the 52 
weeks of the year are marked out by the 52 cards. 

7. There are 365 days in an ordinary year. There 
are 348 spots in a deck by counting also the two small 
spots on two corners of each card. By adding to this 
number the sixteen picture cards — counting the aces as 
picture-cards — we have 364* and the joker makes 365, 
the number of days in a year. In a leapyear the ace of 
spades is counted twice on account of its picturesque- 
ness, it being so different from the other aces. 

8. There are twenty-four hours in a day. There 
are twelve face-cards in a deck and there are two large 
spots on each face-card, making twenty-four, the 
hours in each day. 

9. Omitting the joker, counting all the cards once 
and the four aces twice, which count they deserve, for 
in most games they are of the utmost importance, 
though they look the simplest, we get sixty, the number 
of minutes in one hour and the number of seconds in 
one minute. . 

There are 59,488 different combinations of cards 
possible in a deck of fifty-two cards. This is signifi- 
cant of the innumerable, appropriate and striking illus- 
trations, which can be produced by them. 

Thus, a deck of playing cards becomes a book of his- 
tory and a book of geography, taking into consideration 
the localities, where that history, which has been de- 



CARD-DECK A CALENDAR 35 

scribed by them, was enacted. It is, also, a book of the 
science of the sociology, for it accurately describes the 
conditions of man toward man. Finally, it is a book of 
the art of measuring time. Time is the price of eter- 
nity: Every hour lost is lost a golden opportunity, 
set with sixty diamond minutes. Time is a line, which 
has two ends : one at the cradle, the other at the grave. 
Eternity is a day without a yesterday arid without a 
to-morrow ; it is a line without an end. In time, in to- 
day, we must so live, that through God's grace and 
mercy we may merit a happy eternity. For this great 
and all important work one to-day is worth two to- 
morrows. For it is a profound truth, that to-morrow 
never comes and yesterday, though it is always pass- 
ing, has never been with us ; for yesterday, to-day was 
to-morrow; to-morrow to-day will be yesterday; yes- 
terday, to-morrow would be the day after to-morrow, 
because to-day would be to-morrow yesterday, and 
to-morrow will be to-day to-morrow and would have 
been the day after to-morrow yesterday. Consequent- 
ly, it is clear that we live only in the present moment, 
now. The future is not ours. Let us, therefore, re- 
solve to make a good use of our time. To do so, the 
further and careful reading and studying of this book 
will help us. 



PART TWO. 

Principal Historical Events of the Bible Explained 
by Cards. 



SECTION I. 
History of the Old Testament. Creation of World. 



CHAPTER I. 

The entire Bible can be read by the deck of playing 
cards and explained by the cards as symbols. This will 
be briefly done in Part II. This does not elevate play- 
ing cards ; nor does it lower the Bible. Cards are used 
only as familiar signs for illustrations, reminders, rep- 
resentations and figures to bring home the lessons of 
the Bible and the teachings of the Catholic Church. 

DIVISION i. 

i. The one, the ace, means that the only one true 

God created heaven and earth in the beginning ; that by 

heaven is here meant the invisible world, the spirit 

world, the angels : by earth is meant the visible world. 

2. That in the first creation period, or creation day, 
(not a day of twenty- four hours) God created the es- 
sence, the nature of light; but there was no body yet 
through which light could shine. (P. 127.) 

3. The two-spot means, that on the second creation 
day God created the firmament. 

4. The three-spot means, that on the third creation 
day God caused the water and the land to separate, 
which, up to this time, had been all mixed up. Thus 
were formed the oceans, seas, lakes, fountains, streams, 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY 37 

rivers, plains, hills, valleys and mountains. Thus, the 
earth became ready to produce plants, trees, flowers, 
fruits, which God caused it to do. 

5. The four-spot means, that in the fourth creation 
period God formed the great heavenly bodies, like the 
sun, moon, planets, stars, that roll in the endless do- 
main of space above us, and which the plants now 
needed for their growth to maturity. In this period 
for the first time days of twenty-four hours each be- 
came possible. 

6. The five-spot means, that in the fifth creation 
period God created the fish and animals, that live in 
water, and the birds, that live in the air, for their habi- 
tations and food were prepared for them during the 
preceding period. 

7. The six-spot means, that on the sixth great crea- 
tion day God created the animals, that live on dry land. 
At the end of this, sixth, creation period God created 
man according to his own image and likeness, by form- 
ing the body out of the earth and breathing into him, 
creating for him, an immortal soul. God gave man 
power to rule over the whole earth and all things and 
all animals . therein. Man is, consequently, not de- 
scended from the monkey. (P. 131.) 

8. The seven-spot means, that, after those six great 
creation periods, God in the seventh period once more 
considered all what he had created, and he saw, that it 
was very good, and he rested from creating and he 
blessed everything what he had created, and it means 
also that great seventh period, in which we are now 
living. (P. 132.) 

Lesson. As God created man on the sixth day of 
creation (not on the sixth day of the week), thus he 
redeemed him on Good Friday, the sixth day of the 



38 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

week by His death on the cross on Mount Calvary. 
God formed the body of Adam out of the earth, while 
the earth was pure and not yet contaminated with the 
sins of man; thus the body of Jesus Christ was born 
of Mary, who was a pure, spotless virgin, free from 
original and all other sins. (P. 196.) This is a teach- 
ing of the Catholic Church. Hence, to receive the full 
meaning of the Bible, it is necessary to be a Catholic. 

DIVISION 2. . 



Adam, Eve, Cain, Abel, Paradise. Abel Figure of 

Christ. 

1. The king and queen in cards are a pair. They 
are a figure of Adam and Eve, the first man and wo- 
man. The woman God created out of a rib, taken from 
Adam's side. He placed them in a most beautiful gar- 
den, called paradise, which contained all the most deli- 
cious fruits, vegetables, grains, flowers, and birds of 
song, that can be imagined. In it God named two trees : 
the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and 
evil. He permitted Adam and Eve to eat of all fruits 
excepting of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, 
for, if they did eat of it, as a punishment for their 
disobedience to his commandment, they should die. 

2. In the invisible world God created angels. 
(P. 135.) At first they were all happy. But the highest 
of them, Lucifer, became proud and wanted to be some- 
thing more, than God had made him. He rebelled 
against God and caused many other angels to do so, 
too ; but the good angels, led by Michael, fought the bad 
and conquered them, whom God then cast out of 
heaven into hell. 

3. God destined men to fill those places in heaven, 
which those bad angels had lost. Hence, those bad 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY 39 

angels became jealous. That is the reason, why the 
devil induced Adam and Eve to eat of the forbidden 
fruit, (P. 182) and thus they lost their right to heaven. 
He told them, that their eyes would be opened, and 
that they could tell the difference between good and 
evil, which was very sadly true, and that they would 
not die, which was a lie. He mixed up truth and false- 
hood, as some people do after him. 

4. When God called them to account for their diso- 
bedience to him, Adam blamed Eve, for she had given 
him the fruit : Eve blamed the snake, in which form the 
devil had appeared to her. Then God cursed the snake, 
because the devil had appeared in its form, and he 
cursed the devil, because he had seduced the first 
woman, and he foretold there, that the seed of a wo- 
man should yet crush his head. That was the first 
prophecy, that the Bible records of the Blessed Virgin 
Mary and of a redeemer, whom she was to bring forth. 
God drove Adam and Eve out of paradise and made 
them earn their own living under great difficulties, and 
he condemned them to die. 

5. The two colors of cards are a figure of the two 
first sons of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel. Cain was 
a grain- farmer and was wicked ; that is the reason, why 
he is represented by the black color. Abel was a shep- 
herd and was good. Each offered a sacrifice to God. 
Cain took the poorest grain, which he could find and 
said, it was good enough to be burnt in sacrifice to God. 
Abel, however, picked out the very best lamb of his 
flock and said, the best is not too good for God, be- 
cause I owe everything to him. God was well pleased 
with the sacrifice of Abel, but displeased with that of 
Cain. Wherefore, Cain became jealous of his brother 
Abel and killed him. That was the first murder com- 



40 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

mitted on earth. God branded Cain. He became an 
unhappy vagabond on earth. 

Lessons. 1. In paradise Adam and Eve were 
happy as long, as they were obedient to God. The tree 
of life would have preserved them from sickness and 
death, if they had not eaten of the forbidden fruit. 
The tree of life was a figure of the Most Holy Sacrifice 
of the Altar, as it is had only in the Catholic Church 
and of which it is written : "He who is fed by it shall 
live forever." This is said of the life of the soul. Of 
the body, it is said only in so far, as it is true of the 
resurrection of the body. 

2. From the tree of knowledge of good and evil 
came ruin to man. From the tree of the cross of 
Christ came redemption. 

3. Abel was a figure of Jesus Christ. Cain was a 
figure of the traitor Judas and of the Jewish people, 
who put our Savior to death. 

DIVISION 3. 



Deluge. Noe. His Sons. 

Clubs are a figure of the Deluge, the consequence of 
sin. 

1. The two-spot means the kinds of descendants of 
Adam and Eve : those of Seth, their third son, were 
good ; those of Cain were bad. 

2. The one, the ace, reminds us, that when the ma- 
jority had become corrupt and lost the true faith in the 
true God, there was one Noe, who remained faithful 
and just. God bade Noe to build the Ark, an unsink- 
able ship. Noe worked one hundred years at building 
the Ark. During all this time, he exhorted the people 
to penance. But they scorned his advice, God com- 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY 41 

manded Noe to put mates of all animals into the Ark 
with food for them and his family and then go into it 
with his wife and his three sons and their wives. Then 
God let rain fall in such great torrents, that the floods 
stood over the highest trees and mountains for one 
hundred days and all men and animals were drowned, 
excepting those who were in the saving Ark of Noe. 

3. In the seventh month of the deluge the moun- 
tains again appeared, and Noe sent out a raven. It did 
not return. Then he sent out a dove, which again re- 
turned to the Ark, because there was too much water 
on earth yet for it to live. After seven days Noe again 
sent out a dove. It returned the same day and brought 
back the branch of an olive tree. Noe took it for a 
sign, that the waters had disappeared. He and all left 
the Ark. His first care was to offer to God a sacrifice 
of thanksgiving of some animal for having preserved 
him and his family. God blessed Noe and his sons and 
made a covenant with them and placed the rainbow in 
the sky as a sign, that he would no more destroy the 
whole earth by a deluge. 

4. The three-spot reminds us, that Noe had three 
sons, Sem, Cham, and Japhet, from whom all races on 
earth are descended. Noe planted a vineyard and made 
wine. He did not know the evil effects of drinking a 
large quantity of it. He got drunk unknowingly and 
lay exposed in his tent. His son Cham laughed at him 
and told his two brothers about it. But they, out of due 
respect for their father, turned their eyes aside and 
covered their father's nakedness with a suitable dress. 
After Noe had sobered up and heard, what had oc- 
curred, he cursed Cham for his disrespect, but blessed 
Sem and Japhet. 



42 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

5. Soon the descendants of Noe had multiplied to 
such an extent, that they found it necessary to disperse. 
Before doing so, however, they resolved to build a 
tower, called the Tower of Babel, that would reach up 
to heaven and which would perpetuate their greatness. 
This displeased God and he confused their languages. 
When they could no longer understand each other, 
they quit building the tower and dispersed. The de- 
scendants of Sem settled in Asia. From them came 
the Israelites, God's chosen people and the promised 
Redeemer's holy Mother. Those of Cham settled in 
Africa; those of Japhet in Europe. (P. 390.) 

Lessons. 1. Noe is a figure of Jesus Christ. 
The Ark is a figure of the Catholic Church. Noe saved 
his family from the destruction of the deluge by taking 
them into the Ark. Jesus Christ saves all, who come 
into and stay in the Catholic Church. 

2. The sinner, who does not repent and remains 
outside of the Catholic Church, is like the raven, who 
did not return to the Ark and was lost. The dove, that 
came back to the Ark, is a figure of the true christian, 
who seeks and finds salvation in the Catholic Church. 

3. Pride and jealousy were at the bottom of the 
trouble in heaven, because Lucifer and his followers 
wanted to be something more than God had made them. 
Pride and gluttony were the cause of the fall of Adam 
and Eve. Jealousy caused Cain to become a murderer. 
Avarice caused people at Noe's time to forget God, and 
the deluge came. 

4. Strong drink caused Noe to become an object of 
ridicule, just as it makes its users at the present time. 

5. Disrespect for authority brought the father's 
curse on Cham and his descendants. 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY 43 

6. Pride brought confusion of languages into the 
world. Avoid them all. Be sober, meek and humble 
and respectful to authority. 

CHAPTER II. 



Division I, Abraham, Isaac. 

In card games some cards are chosen trumps, as 
guides and as main supports of the game. Thus God 
in the first 3,000 years of mankind chose patriarchs, 
in order that through them the true faith in him, the 
true God, might be preserved, and from whom he might 
produce the Savior of the world. Among them after 
Noe was Abraham. God told him to go with his fam- 
ily into Chanaan, a land flowing with milk and honey. 
God promised to make his posterity more numerous 
than the stars in the firmament. Abraham was an ex- 
ample for many virtues. 

1. He loved peace and rather suffered loss of 
worldly goods, than quarrel with anyone. Yet, he also 
protected his friends against unjust aggressors. 

2. He was eager to serve God well. He supported 
the high-priest Melchisedech, who offered bread and 
wine as sacrifice to God. 

3. Abraham was hospitable and charitable to stran- 
gers. God told him, He would destroy the two very 
wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrha. Abraham 
asked God to spare them, if only ten just could be 
found in them. But ten just could not be found. Lot, 
the nephew of Abraham, lived in Sodom. Two angels 
came and told Lot to leave the city with his wife and 
two daughters and not to look back upon the burning 
cities, which God destroyed by fire from heaven. But 
Lot's wife was overcome by curiosity, looked back and 



44 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

was turned by God for punishment for her disobedi- 
ence into a pillar of salt. The Dead Sea is now, where 
those sinful cities stood. 

4. Abraham placed absolute trust in God. God 
commanded him to take his only and dear son Isaac 
and offer him up in sacrifice on Mount Moria. Abra- 
ham without any objection prepared the wood for the 
altar of sacrifice and laid it on Isaac's shoulder to carry 
it up. When Abraham had built the altar, he took his 
son, and, when he was about to slay him in sacrifice to- 
God, an angel held Abraham's hand and told him not to 
injure the boy, because God was satisfied with his good 
intention. Abraham perceived a ram near by. He took 
it and offered it in sacrifice to God. The angel, also, 
told Abraham, that God would make his posterity more 
numerous, than the sands on the seashore, and that 
from one of them He would be born, in whom all 
nations would be blessed. The angel thus spoke of 
Jesus Christ, the Savior. 

5. When Isaac was grown up to manhood, his par- 
ents, Abraham and Sarah, were solicitous, as good par- 
ents are and ought to be, to help him find a good, virtu- 
ous, God-fearing wife. Therefore, they sent their 
servant, Eliezer, into the country, where lived Abra- 
ham's brother, to there find a wife for him, where he 
did obtain the modest, virtuous and beautiful Rebecca. 

Lesson. The sacrifice of Melchisedech was a 
figure of the sacrifice of the Mass, as it is had in the 
Catholic Church, wherein Jesus Christ is truly offered 
up under the appearance of bread and wine, — another 
reason, why one ought to be a Catholic, in order to be 
true to the teachings of the Bible. 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY 45 

Division 2. Esau, Jacob. 

1. The two-spot in cards reminds us of the two 
sons of Isaac and Rebecca, Esau and Jacob. Esau was 
bold and rough, a grain farmer and hunter. Isaac 
loved him most. Jacob had a girlish face and voice and 
was a shepherd. Rebecca loved him best. One day, 
when Esau came home hungry, he sold his first birth- 
right to his younger brother, Jacob, for a meal. 

2. When Isaac had become old and blind, he told 
Esau to go and hunt and prepare him something good 
to eat and he would bestow upon him his special fath- 
erly benediction. Jacob, upon the advice of his mother, 
disguised himself and impersonated Esau, brought his 
father something good to eat and thus obtained his 
father's special blessing, intended for Esau. When 
Esau learned this, he threatened to kill his brother. 
Hence, Jacob left home and went to live with his 
uncle, Laban. 

3. At night Jacob on his journey slept under the 
open sky, his head resting on a stone for a pillow. In 
a God-intended dream he saw a ladder reaching from 
earth to heaven, upon which angels were descending 
and ascending. God promised to give him and his pos- 
terity the land, on which he slept. When Jacob awoke, 
he set up the stone for a monument to God's special 
revelation and called it Bethel, house of God. 

4. Jacob served his uncle Laban twenty years and 
married his daughter Rachel. God blessed Jacob, also, 
in worldly goods and he became so wealthy, that Laban 
became jealous of him. But Jacob feared God, kept 
his commandments and gave God for religious and 
charitable purposes every year one-tenth of all, that 
God blessed him with. 



46 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

Lesson. Bethel was a figure of the Catholic 
Church, where angels truly carry the prayers of the 
christians up to heaven and bring back graces and 
blessings. Hence, to have the benefit of all the mutual 
prayers of christians and of the official prayers of the 
true Church of Christ, it is necessary to be a Catholic. 

Division 3. Twelve Sons. 

1. The twelve picture-cards remind us of the twelve 
sons of Jacob : Ruben, Simeon, Levi, Juda, Issachar, 
Zabulon, Dan, Nephthali, Gad, Aser, Joseph, Benja- 
min. Jacob loved Joseph most. For that reason his 
brothers were jealous of him and hated him. There- 
fore, they cruelly sold him into Egyptian slavery and 
made their father believe, that a wild animal had killed 
Joseph. 

2. Putiphar, an officer in King Pharao's army, 
bought Joseph. Joseph was good, true, honest and 
trusted in G®d, who blessed him. Joseph was soon 
placed in charge of his master's house, whose wife con- 
ceived a criminal afifection for him and tried to induce 
him to sin with her. But he would not. She, there- 
fore, falsely accused him of criminal assault. Her 
husband believed her false story and cast Joseph into 
prison. But God was with him. The prison-keeper 
found him trustworthy and placed him in charge of 
the prison. 

3. Two other officers of the king were also in 
prison. They each had dreams. Joseph's interpreta- 
tion of them proved to be correct. The seven-spot 
reminds us of dreams of Pharao. 

4. King Pharao himself dreamt, that seven fat 
cows came out of the river Nile. After them came up 
seven very lean, hungry cows and ate up the seven fat 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY 47 

cows; and that he saw seven large, full ears of corn 
grow on one stock, and then, that he saw seven poor, 
blasted, ears with no corn on grow up and ate up the 
seven large ears. He asked his fortune tellers what 
his dreams meant. They could not tell him. He 
heard of Joseph's correct interpretations of dreams and 
sent for him. Joseph, enlightened by God, said: the 
seven fat cows and the seven well rounded ears of 
corn are seven years of big crops ; the seven poor cows 
and the seven cornless ears are seven years of crop 
failures. This will. occur in Egypt, Asia and every- 
where. The king, therefore, would act wisely to select 
a prudent, trustworthy man to buy and store up grain 
during the seven years of big crops, so that there might 
be grain to buy during the seven years of famine. The 
king believed Joseph's interpretation to be true and 
appointed him to that important position. 

5. The seven years of bumper crops came, and 
Joseph stored up an immense amount of grain. The 
seven years of crop failures came, too, and the people 
came and asked bread from the king, who told them to 
go to Joseph and buy. Famine came, also, in the land 
of Chanaan, Joseph's old home, and Jacob, his father, 
sent his ten sons to Egypt to buy grain. Benjamin he 
kept at home. Joseph recognized his brothers at once ; 
but they did not know him, for he spoke to them 
through an interpreter. Joseph accused them of being 
spies and up to nothing good; but they denied the 
charge. They also told him, that there had been twelve 
brothers; that the youngest was at home with their 
father; but that the other was no longer. Joseph 
threatened to cast them into prison, until they would 
bring their younger brother, to see, whether they were 
telling him the truth. In their conversation among 



48 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

themselves, which Joseph pretended not to understand, 
they acknowledged, that they deserved such harsh 
treatment in return for their cruelty to their brother 
Joseph. It made Joseph sad and he went out to hide 
his tears- He ordered their grain sacks filled and the 
money for it put back into each one's sack. Simeon, 
however, he ordered cast into prison, until the others 
would bring their youngest brother. When, on their 
return home, they discovered the money in their sacks 
with the grain and told their father all, that had oc- 
curred, great fear came over them all. The poor old 
father Jacob lamented his lot ; for Joseph was no more ; 
Simeon was in prison, and now they wanted to take 
away also Benjamin. But when starvation stared 
them in the face, there was nothing else to be done, but, 
taking Benjamin with them, to go to Egypt and buy 
more grain from Joseph. He had a meal prepared for 
them in his own palace and he placed them at the table 
according to their age. They failed to understand, 
what it all meant. Joseph ordered their sacks filled 
with grain and each one's money put back into the sack, 
and, to try them and see, whether they were as hard- 
hearted toward Benjamin, as they had been toward 
himself, he ordered his own silver drinking cup to be 
put into Benjamin's sack. After they had gone on their 
way home, Joseph sent a messenger after them, accus- 
ing them of stealing his silver cup. They denied the 
guilt and said, that, if anyone had stolen the cup, he 
should die. It was found in Benjamin's sack. They 
were filled with fear and all returned to Joseph and 
told him, they were being punished for their sins and 
that they would all be his slaves. Joseph, however, 
demanded, that only he with whom the cup had been 
found, should be his slave. Juda offered himself to be 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY 49 

Joseph's slave in Benjamin's stead, for, said he, it 
would break their old father's teart, if Benjamin did 
not return. Joseph had a soft heart ; he broke into 
tears and said : "I am Joseph ; do not fear. The evil 
which you intended, God has turned into good. Go, 
tell father of his son's; glory and bring him down to 
Egypt." Jacob came, and on the way God again re- 
vealed to him, that he would be the father of a great 
nation. Jacob blessed his sons, before he died, and to 
Juda he prophesied, that the governing power would 
not be taken from hirrt and his posterity, until He 
would come, whom the nations expected, the promised 
Savior of the world. Jacob was buried in his own 
country of Chanaan. His people mourned, prayed and 
offered sacrifice for the happy repose of his soul for 
seventy days. This is ample proof of their belief in 
purgatory. All is taken from the Bible. 

Lesson. Joseph was a figure of Jesus Christ. 
Joseph was hated by his brothers on account of his 
virtues. Jesus was hated for his doctrine and be- 
cause he exposed the sins of the Jews. Joseph was 
betrayed, sold and falsely accused. So was Jesus. 
Joseph's triumph in the end was great. So is that of 
Jesus. Joseph was made ruler of Egypt. Jesus is 
King of heaven and earth. Joseph saved his parents 
jand brothers from starvation. Jesus saves all men 
from spiritual death, who will make use of his spirit- 
ual food, doctrine, the holy sacrifice of the Mass and 
the sacraments, as found in the holy Catholic Church. 

Division 4. Sixteen Patriarchs. 

This is the end of the age of patriarchs. They were 
:he heads of families, who ruled not only over their 
)wn, but also sometimes over several generations of 



50 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

their descendants. They were principally sixteen, rep- 
resented by the sixteen face cards in the card-deck. 
They are: 

i. Adam, who was created at the beginning of the 
age of man and lived 930 years. 

2. Seth, his son, born in the year of the world 130 
and lived 912 years. 

3. Enos, his son, born in the year of the world 235 
and lived 905 years. 

4. Cainan, his son, born in the year of the world 
325 and lived 910 years. 

5. Malaleel, his son, born in the year of the world 
395 and lived 895 years. 

6. Jared, his son, born in the year of the world 460 
and lived 962 years. 

7. Enoch, his son, born in the year of the world 622 
and lived 365 years. 

8. Mathusalem, his son, born in the year of the 
world 687 and lived 969 years. 

9. Lamech, his son, born in the year of the world 
874 and lived 777 years. 

10. Noe, born in the year of the world 1057 and 
lived 950 years. 

11. Thare, Abraham's father, born in the year of 
the world 1777 and lived 205 years. 

12. Abraham, his son, born in the year of the world 
2008 and lived 175 years. 

13. Isaac, his son, born in the year of the world 
2108 and lived 180 years. 

14. Jacob, his son, born in the year of the world 
2168 and lived 147 years. 

15. Levi, his son, born in the year of the world 
2255 and lived 137 years. 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY 51 

16. Moses, both patriarch and prophet, born in the 
year of the world 2433 an ^ lived 120 years. 

It is interesting to figure out, how many of those 
patriarchs knew each other, and how traditions could 
be and were handed down through them, and how 
Moses obtained the facts from them to write his books 
of the Bible. 

CHAPTER III. 



Division 1. 
Moses, Ten Plagues, Paschal Lamb, Manna. 
1. Multiplying the possible combinations of each 
card with all the possible combinations of all other 
cards, produces a representation of the multiplied in- 
crease of the descendants of Jacob in Egypt. They are 
now called Israelites and also Hebrews. The Egyp- 
tians with their new kings forgot, what great benefac- 
tor Joseph, Jacob's son, had been for them, and they 
began to oppress the Israelites' in cruel slavery and even 
ordered all the male children to be drowned in the river 
Nile. One mother hid her new born son for three 
months. When she could no longer do so, she made a 
little unsinking boat out of a basket, put the boy in it, 
placed it in the river's edge, and the boy's sister con- 
cealed herself in the brush close by and awaited devel- 
opments. The King's daughter came to the river to 
bathe, found the fine boy, took pity on him and wished 
to raise him. The boy's sister approached the king's 
daughter and offered to bring a nurse for the boy, to 
which the king's daughter consented, and she brought 
the boy's own mother. This child was Moses, the 
great patriarch, prophet, liberator of the Chosen Peo- 
ple of God and writer of several of the most important 
books of the Old Testament Bible. 



52 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

2. When Moses had grown up to manhood, he 
openly protested against the ill-treatment of his people ; 
wherefore the king ordered him to be killed. But he 
fled to Arabia, where he married and lived for years. 
Then God appeared to him and ordered him to go and 
lead his Chosen People out of the Egyptian bondage 
into the land of Chanaan, which was very beautiful and 
fertile and which God had promised to Noe, Abraham, 
Isaac and Jacob. Moses feared for his inability for 
such a great task, because he stuttered. But God gave 
him his brother Aaron to do the talking. They went 
back to Egypt and presented their message clearly 
before the Hebrew people and confirmed their appeals 
with miracles, so that their people believed, that they 
were their God-chosen leaders out of slavery. Repeat- 
edly with still greater force, earnestness and miracles 
they plead their case before the Egyptian heathen king 
to let their people go to the land, which their, the true 
God, wanted to give them. But the king hardened his 
heart against the designs of God and oppressed the 
Israelites still more. Wherefore, God sent upon the 
king and his people ten plagues, of which the ten-spot 
cards remind us. i) Aaron struck the river Nile with 
his rod, and its water was turned into blood. 2) He 
stretched his hand over Egypt, and frogs covered the 
whole land. 3) He struck the earth, and the dust was 
turned into flies, mosquitoes and insects, that fright- 
fully tormented men and animals. 4) Deadly sick- 
nesses broke out among animals, and many died. 5) 
Moses scattered ashes to the winds, and the Egyptian 
people were afflicted with the black smallpox and many 
died. 6) The king himself was stricken down with a 
horrible pest of sickness. 7) Hail destroyed everything 
in the fields. 8) Grasshoppers devoured every green 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY 53 

plant left on earth. 9) For three days and nights the 
thickest darkness covered the land. 10) God sent an 
angel, who in one night killed all the first born of each 
family of the Egyptians. But the Hebrews, upon the 
command of Moses, sprinkled their door-posts with 
the blood of a lamb/ and, where the angel saw that 
blood, he killed no one. The lamb they roasted and ate 
with unleavened bread. It was called the Paschal 
Lamb. 

Lesson. 1. That Paschal Lamb was a figure of 
our Holy Redeemer. He is the true Lamb of God. 
His blood was shed for us on the cross on Mount Cal- 
vary, and by it we are delivered from eternal death, if 
we only do, what he prescribes for us, and make use of 
the proper means, the holy sacraments, of applying the 
price of his blood to our souls in his holy Catholic 
Church. 

2. The deliverance of the Israelites from the 
Egyptian bondage is also a figure of our deliverance 
from the slavery of satan, into which sin has brought 
us, and from which we certainly will be delivered, if 
we only obey God in his true Church. This is all taken 
from the Bible. 

When the king saw this last horrid punishment, he 
commanded Moses to depart with their people. From 
the time of Jacob's entrance to this departure the Isra- 
elites lived 250 years in Egypt. They were now about 
3,000,000 souls. They took with them the bones of 
Joseph and buried them besides his father and mother 
in Chanaan. 

3. God guided the Israelites on their march out of 
Egypt toward their Promised Land by a miraculous 
light at night and a shadowing cloud by day. When 
they came to the Red Sea, Moses stretched his rod over 



54 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

it, and the water parted and dammed up on both sides, 
so that they could march through. The King of 
Egypt in the meantime repented having permitted them 
to go. He pursued them with an army, which was com- 
ing in the middle of the sea, when the Israelites reached 
the land on the east side. Moses again stretched out 
his rod over the sea and the waters rushed back into 
their natural place and drowned the entire Egyptian 
army. 

Lesson. 1. This protecting cloud and the guiding 
light by night are figures of the Savior and Guider of 
the world ; for those, who place themselves beneath his 
protection and are guided by his divine light of faith, 
as taught by the Catholic Church, will not perish on the 
way, but will safely enter the promised land of eternal 
happiness. 

2. The Red Sea is a figure of the holy sacrament of 
baptism; for, as the Israelites had to pass through it, 
to enter the Promised Land, thus without the sacra- 
ment of baptism there is no salvation. A beautiful 
argument in favor of the Catholic Church ; and all is 
taken from the Bible. 

4. After the Israelites had crossed the Red Sea, 
they were in the Arabian desert, where no crops of any 
kind grow. But God provided for them. The four 
ten-spots of the card-deck remind us, that daily for 
forty years he sent abundance of quail into the camp 
for meat, and every morning the ground was covered 
with tiny cracker-breads called Manna, which fell from 
heaven during the night. On the sixth day of the week 
a double quantity fell, to aflford sufficient food for the 
Sabbath day, on which none fell from heaven. For 
drink, God provided only water ; nothing stronger. He 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY 55 

ordered Moses to strike a dry rock with his rod, and 
good drinking water flowed forth. 

Lesson. That Manna-bread, which fell from 
heaven, was a very striking figure of the Most Holy 
Sacrament of the Altar, as it is had only in the Catholic 
Church. It came from heaven. So does Jesus Christ 
in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, where he becomes 
truly present under the appearance of bread. The 
Chosen People of God were saved from starvation by 
the Manna. Those, who worthily receive Jesus in 
holy communion under" the appearance of bread and 
persevere in his grace until death, will surely be saved 
from eternal death. Behold the beauties of the Catho- 
lic Church and the great chances for eternal salvation 
in her ! And all is taken from the Bible. 

Division 2. Ten Commandments, Golden Calf. 

There are ten spot-cards of each suit. They remind 
us of the ten commandments of God. The two colors 
remind us of the two slates on which they were writ- 
ten. 

i. While the Israelites were camping around 
Mount Sinai in Arabia, God promised them through 
Moses to make them a Chosen People, if they were 
faithful to him. From Mount Sinai amid thunder, 
lightning and the sound of trumpets, God spoke to the 
people, assembled at the foot of the mountain, giving 
them his ten holy commandments : 

ist. I am the Lord, thy God. Thou shalt not have 
strange gods before me ; 

2nd. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord, thy 
God, in vain. 

3rd. Remember, thou keep holy the Sabbath day; 

4th. Honor thy father and thy mother; 



56 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

5th. Thou shalt not kill ; 
6th. Thou shalt not commit adultery ; 
7th. Thou shalt not steal ; 

8th. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy 
neighbor ; 

9th. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife ; 
ioth. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's goods. 

2. The people promised to do all what God com- 
manded, and Moses offered sacrifice to God. Then he 
spent forty days on Mount Sinai, fasting and convers- 
ing with God and upon God's orders he gave many 
other laws relating to civil, judicial and religious mat- 
ters. 

Lesson. There is a great similarity between 
Mount Sinai and Mount Calvary: the Old Law was 
established on Mount Sinai ; the New Law was sealed 
on Mount Calvary. On Mount Sinai God showed his 
power ; on Mount Calvary he showed his mercy. The 
covenant on Mount Sinai was sealed with the blood of 
victims offered in sacrifice to God by Moses ; the cove- 
nant on Mount Calvary was sealed with the blood of 
Christ. The bloody sacrifice at Mount Sinai was a pre- 
figure of the real bloody sacrifice of Christ on Mount 
Calvary. Those are teachings of the Catholic Church. 
Behold their beauty ! And all is taken from the Bible. 

3. On the mountain God gave Moses the ten com- 
mandments written on two tablets of stone. The first 
three commandments, which related to God himself, 
were written on one, and the other seven, which relate 
to the duties of men toward one another, were written 
on the other tablet. This is the only correct division 
and enumeration of the ten commandments, as taken 
from the original Bible. 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY 57 

4. The Israelites, however, were a very fickle peo- 
ple. They still have many imitators: people, who join 
the only true Church of Christ, and then fall away. 
While Moses was delaying forty days on Mount Sinai, 
they began to forget God and demanded of Aaron to 
make them a god like the Egyptians had. He was too 
weak to resist them and told them to bring their jew- 
elry, which they did, and he made them a golden calf 
out of it for a god. They built an altar for it and 
offered it sacrifice and shouted and cried and sang 
around it. They still have imitators among people, 
who get histerical at religious meetings. The joker of 
the card-deck reminds us of this golden calf-god. 
When Moses came down from the mountain and saw 
and heard what was going on, he became so justly 
angry that he threw down the two slates of the ten 
commandments and broke them. He smashed the 
gofden calf-god. He ordered the sons of Levi to kill 
with their swords all, who had participated in this 
abominable idolatry. They killed 23,000. 

5. Moses went again up to the mountain, where 
God gave him two new slates with the ten command- 
ments written on them. 

6. Among the many religious ordinances, which 
God gave, were 1 ) for the Tabernacle Tent. In it was 
an auditorium and a sanctuary, in which was a smaller 
place, called Holy of Holies, in which was placed the 
Ark of the Covenant. { In the sanctuary were kept on 
the table of showbread a) twelve loaves of bread, of 
which the twelve picture-cards remind us; b) the 
golden candlestick, on which seven lights burned all 
night, of which the seven-spot reminds us ; c) the altar 
of perfumes, on which incense was burned; d) outside 
of the tent was the altar of sacrifice for burnt-offer- 



58 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

ings. 2) The sacrifices were of two kinds : a) bloody, 
in which were offered slain animals; b) unbloody, in 
which were offered up bread and wine. 3) Religious 
feasts were: a) the Pasch, on which day they ate the 
flesh of a lamb with unleavened bread in remembrance 
of their deliverance out of the bondage of Egypt; b) 
Pentecost in remembrance of the law given to them on 
Mount Sinai ; c) Tabernacles, in remembrance of their 
forty years' sojourn in the Arabian desert; d) the Ex- 
piation, when sacrifices were offered up in satisfaction 
for their sins; 4) ministers of divine worship were 
priests, who were appointed from the family of Aaron 
and the tribe of Levi; 5) the institution of tithes, 
which obliged every man, woman and child to contrib- 
ute every year for all charitable and religious purposes 
one-tenth of all their annual increase of grain, fruit, 
herds, or other earnings. The priests, consequently, 
were not beggars. They were entitled to the tithes, as 
their just wage for services rendered. 

Lesson. The tabernacle-tent was a figure of the 
Catholic church buildings, for in them is 1) the audi- 
torium for the people to assist at the holy sacrifice and 
other divine worship; 2) the sanctuary for the priest 
alone to officiate; 3) in the sanctuary is the altar for 
the holy sacrifice of the New Law, and 4) on the altar 
is the receptacle, commonly styled, tabernacle, wherein 
is preserved the true Holy of Holies, Jesus Christ him- 
self, as true God and true man under the appear- 
ance of bread in the Most Holy Sacrament; 5) incense 
is used at solemn worship, and candlesticks for lights 
are employed in the Catholic Church, just as they were 
prescribed by God himself in that divine tabernacle- 
tent of old ; 6) the unbloody sacrifice of Christ is being 
offered up in the Catholic Church under the appear- 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY 59 

ance of bread and wine as it was prefigured by the sac- 
rifice of bread and wine of the high priest Melchise- 
dech and is offered up as it was instituted by Christ 
himself at His Last Supper; 7) the ministers of divine 
worship, priests, are chosen by God, as they were pre- 
scribed by God himself in the Old Law; 8) people at 
the present time surely ought not to complain at the 
demands made on them for charity and religion as 
long, as they are not called upon to contribute more, 
than one-tenth of all their annual receipts. All these 
things and duties are elevated, glorified, and spiritual- 
ized in the New Law, and all is taken from the Bible. 
How solidly the Bible proves the Catholic Church to 
be the only true Church of Christ ! 

Division 3. Sojourn in the Desert. 

1. There are twelve picture-cards. They remind us 
of the twelve men, among whom were Josue and Caleb, 
whom Moses sent as spies to investigate the Land of 
Promise. They brought back great samples of fruit, to 
prove its fertility ; but they reported the country to be 
inhabited by giants ; whereupon the faint-hearted peo- 
ple despaired of ever obtaining it, forgetting God's 
promises and not relying on God's assistance. They 
murmured against God and Moses. God, therefore, 
punished them and said, that no one over twenty-one 
years of age, excepting Josue and Caleb, would enter 
the Promised Land, but that all over that age would 
die in the desert, where the people was to remain yet 
forty years. v 

2. The three-spot reminds us of Core, Dathan and 
Abiron, who led a revolt against Moses and Aaron, the 
God-appointed leaders of the people. God caused the 
earth to open, swallow up these three rebels and caused 



60 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

their 250 followers to be consumed by fire from heaven. 
Those rebels still have their followers in all who rebel 
against the only true Church of God and her God- 
appointed and anointed priests. Beware! God toler- 
ates no interference. 

6. When water f ailed, God ordered Moses to again 
strike the dry rock. Moses thought a moment and 
doubted, whether God would be so good, as to give this 
ungrateful people water by another miracle. He struck 
the rock, however, and water flowed in abundance ; but 
for his momentary doubt God punished him and pre- 
vented him from leading his people into the Promised 
Land. 

4. At another time the people again murmured and 
rebelled against Moses, because they had not sufficient 
food and water. As a punishment God sent among 
them fiery serpents, from whose sting many died. 
Moses again prayed to God for them, as he had done 
so many times. God commanded him to make a brazen 
serpent. Those, who looked upon it, were saved from 
the poison of the snakes. 

Lesson. This brazen serpent in the form of a 
cross was a figure of our Savior nailed to the cross. 
The Israelites were cured from the snake's bite by 
looking upon the brazen serpent. Christians are cured 
of the wounds of sin, caused by the infernal serpent, 
the devil, by looking up to Christ with true faith and 
by having recourse to the holy sacrament of penance, 
as it is had in the Catholic Church. Another of the 
many proofs in favor of the Catholic Church, as the 
only true church of Christ. And all is taken from the 
Bible. 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY 61 

Division 4. Death of Moses, Josue, Promised Land, 
i. When Moses felt life coming to a close, by divine 
command he appointed Josue as his successor to lead 
the Chosen People into the Land of Promise. 

2. He reminded them once more of all the countless 
benefits, which God had bestowed upon them and ex- 
horted them to fidelity to the commandments of God 
and to obedience to God's representatives, and foretold, 
that in due time God would raise up a greater Prophet, 
than himself, and him they should hear. He prophe- 
sied of Christ. 

3. From Mount Nebo God showed Moses the 
Promised Land. He did not murmur against God, 
because he could not enter it, but rejoiced for what 
God was going to do for his people, and full of grati- 
tude toward God for his benefits and blessings he died, 
and God himself buried him. Moses wrote fourteen 
books of the Bible. All Israel mourned and prayed 
and ofifered sacrifices for the happy repose of his soul 
for thirty days. Another proof of their belief in pur- 
gatory. And all is founded on the Bible. 

4. After the death of Moses God commanded Josue 
to pass over the river Jordan from the east into the 
Promised Land. The priests marched at the head, car- 
rying the Ark of the Covenant. When they came to 
the river and touched the water with their feet, the 
waters dammed up just as the Red Sea had done for 
them, and the people passed through. Jericho was the 
principal city in that land. The Israelites marched 
daily for seven days in solemn procession around its 
walls, and on the seventh day amid songs of praise and 
prayer to God its walls fell miraculously. In time 
Josue conquered and divided the land among the twelve 
tribes of the sons of Jacob, excepting the tribe of Levi, 



62 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

the priesthood tribe, which received a city all built up for 
them, but no land, and all of whom were well supported 
by the annual contribution of the ten per cent of all 
receipts of everything of all the other tribes. Thus 
after more than forty years since the Israelites had left 
Egypt, they entered the Promised Land in the year of 
the world 2,553. 

Lesson. 1. There are twelve picture cards. 
Moses is a type of Jesus Christ twelve times : 1) Moses 
was saved from drowning in the river Nile, ordered by 
King Pharoa ; Jesus was saved from death ordered by 
King Herod. 2) Moses in his youth was wise in words 
and very powerful in his works: Jesus at the age of 
twelve confounded the proud and learned doctors of 
the Law. 3) The waters of the Red Sea obeyed Moses : 
Jesus commanded the winds and waves. 4) Moses 
was the leader of the Chosen People toward the Land 
of Promise: Jesus is the way and light to heaven. 5) 
Moses gave the Old Law to the Jews, while he and God 
performed many miracles : Jesus gave the New Law to 
the whole world and proved His divine commission by 
many miracles. 6) Moses abolished the worship of 
idols among the Jews, which they had learned from the 
Egyptians : Christ exterminated idolatry in the world. 
7) Moses took the Israelites out of the Egyptian bond- 
age and made them a free people: Christ freed man- 
kind from satan's slavery and gave them spiritual lib- 
erty. 8) Moses fasted forty days on Mount Sinai: 
Christ fasted forty days in the desert. 9) Moses came 
down from Mount Sinai with his face transfigured: 
Christ was transfigured on Mount Tabor. 10) Moses 
fed the people in the desert on manna, that fell from 
heaven : Christ feeds man with his own body and blood 
under the appearance of bread in the most holy sacra- 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY 63 

ment of the Eucharist, n) Moses firmly established 
the Old Law by bloody sacrifices of animals: Jesus 
impressed the seal of his own blood on the New Law. 
12) Moses was the founder of true religious worship 
in the Old Law: Christ is the Founder of the true 
Church in the New Law. 

2. The Jews were often rebellious against their 
God-chosen leaders; just so they refused to accept 
Jesus Christ, as the promised Savior of the world. On 
the cross he asked forgiveness for them from his heav- 
enly Father ; but for their hardness of heart God has 
rejected them, and they have become wanderers on 
earth and are a people without a country to-day. Peo- 
ple, who rebel against their pastor, are cursed with the 
same hardness of heart. God takes the gift of faith 
away from them and gives it to others, who bring forth 
the fruit thereof. It has never been known to fail. 
Those, who persecute the priest, whom God through the 
bishop sent them, as a rule die without any priest. 
There are thousands of such cases on record ; for "God 
will not be mocked". (P. 70, 89.) 

CHAPTER IV. 



Division 1. Judges. 

1. The sixteen face cards remind us of the sixteen 
judges, who ruled over the Jewish people after Josue 
had died in the year of the world 2,570. They were : 
Othoniel, Aod, Samgar, Barac, Debbora, Gideon, 
Abimelech, Tholar, Jair, Jephte, Abesan, Ahialon, 
Abdon, Samson, Heli, Samuel. 

2. During their administration for 300 years the 
Jews fluctuated between idolatry and the true service 
of the true God, and God punished and prospered them 
accordingly. 



64 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

3. The Judge Samson was very remarkable for his 
extraordinary strength. 1) He tore a furious lion to 
pieces by his hands. 2) He killed 1,000 men with the 
jawbone of an ass for a club. 3) While sleeping, he 
was tied prisoner with seven strong cords by his ene- 
mies ; he broke them easily. 4) He shook the pillars of 
a large building in which 3,000 of his enemies were 
feasting, and it fell to pieces, and he and all were killed. 

4. Heli was high priest and judge at the same time. 
He had two sons, Ophni and Phinees. The father was 
too easy with them and let them have their own way 
and did not raise them well, and they as well as the 
people became very wicked; wherefore God punished 
both him and them by sudden deaths and permitted the 
Philistines, the great enemies of the Israelites, to kill 
30,000 of them in battle. (P. 303.) 

5. Samuel was the last and a good and just judge 
and a prophet at the same time. He exhorted the peo- 
ple to confess their sins, do penance and return to bet- 
ter ways, and peace reigned for many years. When 
Samuel had become old, the Jews clamored for a king 
to reign over them, and Samuel anointed Saul, their 
first king. Samuel wrote the Book of Judges, Ruth and 
the I. and II. Books of Kings. 

Lessons. Samuel and John the Baptist had 
many striking resemblances : 1 ) Elcana and Anna, 
Samuel's parents, had no children for a long time in 
their married life. Wherefore, Anna earnestly prayed 
to God to grant her a son, whom she would consecrate 
to the service of Almighty God. Samuel was the 
answer to her prayer: Saint John the Baptist was in 
answer to the sincere prayers of Elizabeth in her old 
age. 2) Both were consecrated to the service of God 
in their early youth. 3) Both preached penance to the 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY 65 

people for the forgiveness of sin, and the people came 
to them and confessed their sins. 4) Samuel was the 
last judge : Saint John was the last of the prophets of 
the Old Law. 5) Samuel was the precursor of the 
kings : Saint John was the precursor of Jesus Christ, 
the Eternal King of heaven and earth. 6) Samuel 
anointed the king: Saint John baptized Jesus Christ. 
7) Samuel was a prophet : so was Saint John the Bap- 
tist. 

Division 2. Kings of Israel, David, Solomon. 

The kings in cards are types of the kings of Israel. 
The two colors, in which the kings of cards appear, are 
types of the character of those Jewish kings, both good 
and bad. 

1 . Samuel, as the divinely inspired prophet, anointed 
Saul from the tribe of Jacob's son Benjamin the first 
king of Israel, A. D. 2,909. At first he was good, hon- 
est, just and God-fearing. But he could not stand pros-, 
perity ; for on account of it he became proud and diso- 
bedient to God and he was dethroned with all his pos- 
terity. 

Lesson. Saul was a type of the Jewish people : 
1 ) Saul was chosen by God to be king over His chosen 
people; but he became untrue to his trust. The Jews 
were chosen by God to preserve the true faith in Him, 
the true God ; but they became untrue to that calling 
and gradually fell away from God and refused to re- 
ceive the promised Messiah. 2) Saul persecuted king 
David, who was a type of Christ : the Jews persecuted 
Christ. 3) The unhappy death of Saul was lamented 
by David : Jesus shed tears over the Jewish people in 
their capital city, Jerusalem. 



66 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

2. The God-enlightened Samuel went to Bethlehem 
and anointed David king of Israel. In a war with the 
Philistines David knocked their giant Goliath sense- 
less with a slingshot and then cut off his head with his 
own big sword. This gave the victory to the Israelites, 
who loudly praised David for it. This made Saul jeal- 
ous, who sought to kill David. Saul's hatred for David 
increased, and the people all the more loved and hon- 
ored David. But Jonathan, Saul's son, loved and pro- 
tected David against Saul's anger. David had several 
opportunities of killing Saul ; but he generously spared 
him. Saul committed suicide, when he saw, that a bat- 
tle with the Philistines was turning against him. 

Lesson. David's victory over the boasting Goli- 
ath was a figure of the victory of Christ over the devil, 
i ) For forty days Goliath insultingly dared any one to 
come forth and fight him and put him out of that land, 
to and in which he had no right, for God had given it to 
the Israelites : satan for 4,000 years dared any one to 
come and put him out of power in this world, in which 
he had no right, for God had created it for man. 2) 
David carried nothing but his shepherd's staff and five 
smooth stones for his sling to kill Goliath with : Jesus 
conquered the devil by the staff of the cross and his 
five wounds received on it. 3) Under David's reign the 
Israelites conquered many of their enemies and became 
a great nation, and his kingdom extended from the 
Euphrates to Egypt: under the reign of Christ the 
Catholic Church has conquered many enemies, and the 
Catholics have become very numerous and spread over 
the entire world. 4) David strove to have justice ad- 
ministered and to have God's name glorified by worthy 
divine worship; the Catholic Church seeks to rule by 
justice and obedience to the law of God and is unceas- 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY 67 

ingly occupied in promoting God's glory and the salva- 
tion of souls. 

3. David, though a great king and prophet, was 
human too, and fell into sin ; but he humbly confessed 
his sins to God's prophet Nathan, did penance and was 
pardoned. God, however, to punish him for his sins 
and to keep him humble sent him many trials. Among 
these was the rebellion of his own son Absalon. But 
Absalon was punished for this disrespect toward his 
father, too, just as Cham was punished for his disre- 
spect toward his father, Noe ; for while he was fleeing 
from his father in battle, galloping under a tree his 
long hair were flying in the breeze and caught around 
a branch and left him hanging there, and his enemies 
caught up with him and pierced him dead with a spear. 
David himself was buried on Mount Sion, which he had 
made great. He wrote the Book of Psalms. 

Lesson. David was a strong type of Jesus 
Christ. 1) David was from Bethlehem: Jesus was 
born there. 2) David's youth is unknown: Jesus lived 
hidden in his youth at Nazareth. 3) Both were gener- 
ous and forgiving to their enemies. 4) Both entered 
Jerusalem triumphantly. 5) David had to protect him- 
self and his kingdom against two powerful enemies: 
Saul and Absalon ; thus the Catholic Church was first 
attacked by the proud Pharisees and later and to-day 
by heretics and infidels, who succeed to some extent in 
leading many away from Christ and his true Church. 

4. After David, his son, Solomon became king. He 
asked God for wisdom that he might rule his people 
well. God gave him both wisdom and wealth, so that 
he was the wisest and also up to that time the richest 
man who ever lived. He wrote the Book of Proverbs, 
Canticles and Wisdom. He built the magnificent tern- 



6S CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

pie of Jerusalem, at which 164,000 men worked for 
seven years. It was the most costly building ever 
erected on earth. To it the people came annually hun- 
dreds of miles and for a thousand years to pray and to 
offer sacrifices and worship to the true God. In it 
Jesus taught. Solomon's name, his wisdom, his great- 
ness, his reign, his kingdom was known throughout the 
entire world. But also Solomon, seduced by inordi- 
nate love of women, fell from justice — even into idol- 
atry and ended his reign in disgrace, a sad example of 
the weakness of man, the vanities of this world and the 
deluding seduction of women. 

5. After Solomon's death his son, Roboam, became 
king. There were plenty people then, as now, who 
wanted something for nothing in social, civil, educa- 
tional, and especially in religious matter. Entire mobs 
and tribes demanded a reduction of taxes or no taxes 
at all and even to be relieved from the God-imposed 
duty of paying the tithes. All these unjust demands 
the king refused, and the people rebelled and declared 
Jeroboam, a wise servant of Solomon, their king. From 
this time on (A. M. 3,029) the Jewish people became 
divided into two kingdoms : the tribes of Juda and Ben- 
jamin under the king Roboam became the kingdom of 
Juda; the other tribes under Jeroboam composed the 
kingdom of Israel. Jerusalem was the capital of Juda : 
Samaria, that of Israel. Israel soon fell into idolatry. 
God punished them in many ways and sent prophets 
among them to bring them back to better ways. .But to 
no purpose. The heathen king of Assyria destroyed 
their city and made them all captives, and they have 
disappeared from the earth. 

Lesson. 1. The separation of the ten tribes 
from their lawful king was a figure of all those, who 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY 69 

separate themselves from the Catholic Church, or re- 
fuse to enter it, which is God's appointed leader and 
spiritual ruler over men, and who chose their own 
leader and organized a religion, taught and a church 
founded, only by men, not by God. 

Lesson. 2. Jerusalem is a figure of the truth 
and of the Catholic Church : Samaria represents heresy. 
At Jerusalem was the temple, wherein alone sacrifice 
pleasing to God could be offered ; in it were the tables 
of the Law and the priesthood, which God. himself had 
instituted, just as it is in the Catholic Church, the only 
Church and the only priesthood established by God. 

3. The ten rebellious tribes, forming the false 
kingdom of Israel, were much more numerous, than 
the other two ; yet, in a few years they were scattered 
like heresy to the four winds. God, however, was mer- 
ciful to the other two tribes ; for the Savior of the 
world came forth from them. Thus the Catholic 
Church has seen the origin and decay of many heresies. 
She will endure to the end of time, as her divine 
Founder has promised her. Behold ! the truth in favor 
of the Catholic Church is standing out so boldly, that 
no one can deny her being the only true Church of 
Christ. And all proofs for her are taken from the 
Bible. 

Division 3. Nabuchodonozor, Babylonian Cap- 
tivity. 

1. After the death of Roboam many kings good 
and bad reigned over Juda. One of them, Ozias, pre- 
sumed in his wickedness and pride to usurp and per- 
form even the office of the priesthood, for which crime 
the priest resisted him. He threatened to strike the 
priest and he was instantly stricken with the horrid, 



70 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

incurable disease of leprosy, remaining for his whole 
life a sad example to all laymen, who presume to per- 
form the office of the priesthood and who dare to lay 
hands on God's anointed, for them shall God destroy. 
And the tongue and pen are worse than the hands in 
their injury to the anointed of God. (P. 63, 89.) 

2. In A. M. 3,400 Nabuchodonozor, king of Baby- 
lon, made war on the Jews, destroyed Jerusalem and 
the temple of Solomon and carried the people into the 
Babylonian. captivity, a much worse slavery, than God 
had freed them out of in Egypt. He, also, issued a 
decree, that all had to adore an idol of his. Some 
young men in his own household refused to do so. 
They were cast into fiery furnaces, but were not 
burned. At which miracle the heathen king himself 
acknowledged, that their God was the true God. 

3. Baltassar was the next king of Babylon. At a 
great drunken feast, using for drinking the sacred ves- 
sels, which had been stolen from the temple of Jerusa- 
lem, a handwriting appeared on the wall, writing 
"Mane, Thecel, Phares." His soothsayers could not 
interpret it. He heard of the prophet Daniel and sent 
for him, like king Pharao of Egypt had sent for the 
Egyptian Joseph, to interpret his dreams. Daniel said 
to the king this is the meaning: "Mane, thy days are 
ended; Thecel, thy merits are wanting; Phares, thy 
kingdom will be taken by thy enemies. " 

4. In A. M. 3,468 the Jews were permitted to leave 
the Babylonian captivity and return to Jerusalem. They 
took the sanctuary vessels with them, rebuilt the tem- 
ple and the city. 

5. King Antiochus in A. M. 3,837, like Nabuchodo- 
nozor before him, ordered the Books of the Law to be 
destroyed and prohibited all from observing the Law of 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY 71 

Moses. An old man of 92 years, Eleazar, and seven 
young brothers and their mother, the Machabees, pre- 
ferred martyrdom to apostacy from the true faith. The 
boys were all being cruelly murdered, those living and 
the mother exhorting one another to remain faithful 
and to receive the crown of victory from God. They 
have had millions of imitators in the Catholic Church. 
Truly, she must be the true Church of Christ, as the 
Law of Moses, was the true church organized before 
Christ. 

CHAPTER V. 

There are four cards in the card-deck called jack. 
Jack has many meanings. (P. 27.) Among them is a 
better one, than is usually attributed to it, and that is 
servant. In this meaning the jacks represent the 
prophets, servants of God, mentioned in the Old Testa- 
ment, who were chosen by God to preach confession 
and penance to both kings and people for the remission 
of sin and who foretold many things concerning the 
promised Savior of the world. 

Division 1. Prophets Elias, Eliseus, Jonas. 

1. A. M. 3,092 God sent Elias to the wicked king 
Achab of Israel to announce to him God's punishments. 
He sought to kill the prophet who hid himself, and the 
ravens daily brought him bread for some time. Later 
he went to live with a poor woman who had only a 
handful of flour ; but she daily baked bread from it for 
herself, her son and for Elias, and it did not diminish, 
and, when her son died, Elias awoke him to life. At 
another time, to prove to Achab and his heathen people, 
that his God was the true God, upon his prayer, fire 
came from heaven and consumed the sacrifice, 



72 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

which he had lying ready on the altar. Then Achab 
and his people believed in the God of Elias. Achab 
murdered Naboth, in order to get his property. Elias 
told him, the dogs would lick up his blood and eat the 
flesh of his pagan wife, Jezabel. All occurred true to 
his prophecy. 

2. Elias chose Eliseus for his successor and he was 
shortly after taken body and soul in a fiery chariot up 
into heaven. Eliseus was bald. Some boys insulted 
him on that account. He threatened them with punish- 
ment, and bears came out of the woods and killed forty 
boys. A heathen leper came to Eliseus to be cured of 
his horrible disease. Eliseus ordered him to wash 
seven times in the Jordan. He was healed and adored 
the true God and offered Eliseus rich rewards. Eliseus 
refused them ; but his servant secretly asked for some 
goods from the cured leper. Eliseus by inspiration 
beheld this mean transaction and cursed the servant, 
who was instantly afflicted with leprosy for life. After 
Eliseus was dead and buried, the corpse of another man 
came in contact with his remains, and instantly that 
corpse became alive. This proves that God even at 
that time wrought miracles by the relics of saints, and 
that there is nothing contrary to the Bible in the vener- 
ation of relics. (P. 258.) 

3. Jonas was the next prophet. God commanded 
him to go and preach penance to Ninive, the capitol 
city of Assyria. Jonas wanted that city to perish and 
he fled to the Mediterranean Sea and took a ship to 
sail across, thus trying to flee from God and from ful- 
filling the disagreeable mission of preaching penance to 
a people, who did not want to hear his preaching. On 
the voyage a great storm arose. They cast lots to see 
who was the cause of the trouble. The lot fell on 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY 



73 



Jonas. He acknowledged his guilt. He was cast over- 
board, and the sea became calm, but a great whale-fish 
swallowed Jonas alive. He was in the whale's belly 
for three days and prayed to God, and the whale vom- 
ited him up on the shore. Then he went to Ninive and 
told them, that God had given them only forty days 
more. But they confessed their sins, did penance and 
were saved. 

Lesson. 1. Confession to God's representative 
and penance were conditions of forgiveness of sin and 
of restoration of God's grace all through the Old Testa- 
ment. Why not in the New ! The Catholic Church 
fulfils the Scriptures in her confessional. (P. 332.) 

2. Jonas was a type of Jesus Christ : 1 ) Jonas was 
cast overboard, in order that by his death, the others 
might be saved: Jesus Christ sacrificed himself, in 
order that by his death the entire world might be saved. 
2) As Jonas was three 
days in the whale's belly, 
thus Christ's body was 
three days in the grave. 

3. Immediately before 
and during the Babylon- 
ian captivity the prophets 
Joel, Micheas, Isaias, Jere- 
mias, Daniel, Ezekias, 
fearlessly upbraided kings 
for their cruelty and the 
people for their sins and 
ceaselessly exhorted them 
to return to God and 
amend their ways by con- 
fession of, and penance 
for, their sins. It was 



* * 


* 


* 


* 


* 


A 




*8 



74 



CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 



Isaias who pronounced the eight woes against the 
wicked, as opposed to the eight beatitudes of Christ. 
Those eight woes are represented by the eight of 

spades, because the iniqui- 
ties of the wicked will lead 
to death, and by the eight 
of clubs, because their re- 
ward will be suffering. 

4. After that captivity 
Aggeus and Zacharias 
urged the people to rebuild 
the city of Jerusalem and 
the temple, and he fore- 
told, that the glory of this 
second temple would be 
far greater, than that of 
the first. This became true 
by the entrance of Jesus 
into it. 

5. Malachias was the last of the prophets for the 
Jews. He foretold, that all sacrifices of the Old Law 
would soon be at an end, for they were only foreshad- 
ows of a "new and greater sacrifice, which would be 
offered up everywhere daily until the end of time." 
That prophesy has been and continually is literally ful- 
filled in the holy Catholic Church through the holy sac- 
rifice of the Mass. This argument alone ought to be 
sufficient to all thinking people, that the Catholic 
Church alone is the true Church of Christ. And it is 
all taken from the Bible. 




OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY 75 

Division 2. Special servants of God. 

Jacks do not only appropriately represent the proph- 
ets, but also some other conspicuous good men of 
the Old Testament. 

i. Job, who lived in Arabia at about the time of 
Jacob's and Joseph's death. Holy Job is the great ex- 
ample of patience in. the Old Testament. Satan 
claimed, that Job had good reasons for serving God, 
because God had blessed him with abundance. God 
permitted satan to punish Job. Job lost all his flocks 
and stocks, and even. all his ten children died. But Job 
did not murmur against God. He said: "The Lord 
gave it all and the Lord took it. God's name be 
praised." Then Job lost his health and suffered from 
all kinds of sicknesses. His wife and friends aban- 
doned him. But he did not murmur against God. He 
said : God knows, what is best for me. In time God 
rewarded his great patience and fidelity and gave him 
new health and a new happy family of ten children and 
twice as much of worldly goods, as he had before. 

Lesson, a. Job is a figure of Jesus Christ. For 
Jesus in his great sufferings did not complain. 

b. Job's case teaches us, too, how far God some- 
times permits the devil to torment even the good; 
but God turns their sufferings into glory and joy. 

2. Tobias was among the captives in the Babylo- 
nian captivity. All the days of his life he had avoided 
the society of the godless and had kept God's holy com- 
mandments and practiced charity and justice. In his 
old days he lost his eyesight, but like Job he did not 
murmur, but suffered his affliction with patience. He 
had one son, whom he raised in the fear and love of 
God, setting a noble example to all parents for all times. 
Therefore, this son honored his father and mother and 



76 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

exercised much charity toward the poor. His parents, 
like Abraham and Sarah of old prayed to God, that 
their son might obtain a God-fearing wife. God 
thought this of sufficient importance in answer to their 
prayer to even send the archangel Raphael to lead the 
young Tobias into a distant city, where he found a vir- 
tuous wife, Sara. While the young Tobias was wash- 
ing his feet on the journey at a river, a large fish came 
to devour him. The angel told him to kill it and take 
out its gall. When they returned to the father's house 
the young Tobias upon the angel's advice anointed his 
father's eyes with the fish's gall, and his eyesight was 
restored ; a great example, proving, that it pays to be 
good and true and God-fearing and God-trusting. 

3. Nearly 200 years before Christ, a priest, Matha- 
thias could bear to behold no longer the cruelties of the 
pagan king Antiochus and the abominations practiced 
against the law of God. He called to arms all, who 
would fight for God and his law. He won victories, 
destroyed pagan idols and restored divine worship. 

4. After his death his eldest son, Judas Machabeus, 
took up the leadership of this holy war. God was with 
him. At one occasion in the heat of battle five men 
riding on horses came from heaven. Their horses were 
covered with golden harness and their armor shone like 
the sun, and they helped him to win a glorious battle, in 
which 26,000 of his enemies were killed. His first 
thought after the battle was to take care of the dead, to 
bury them respectfully, and then he sent 12,000 pieces 
of silver ($35,400) to the priests at Jerusalem, to have 
prayers and sacrifices offered up for the happy repose 
of the souls of his soldiers, slain in battle, for said he : 
"It is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the 
dead, that they may be loosed from their sins." This 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY 77 

clearly teaches the doctrine of purgatory, as it is taught 
and believed and practiced in the Catholic Church 
alone. Another powerful proof, that the Catholic 
Church alone does follow the teachings of the Bible 
and is, therefore, the only true Church of Christ. 

After the death of Judas Machabeus the Jews again 
fell away from God. • Two sects arose among them : 
the Pharisees, who were genuine hypocrits, and the 
Sadducees, who believed almost nothing. The leaders 
of Judea warred among themselves and, as a last resort, 
to establish peace forcibly, the Romans were called 
upon to adjust the differences. The Romans took pos- 
session of the governing power themselves and ap- 
pointed Herod, a stranger, king. Thus, the sceptre 
passed from Juda, as foretold by Jacob, and the time 
was ripe for the promised Messiah to appear in the 
world. 

5. On or about this time Saint Joachim lived at 
Nazareth. He was the father of the Blessed Virgin 
Mary Mother of God, and, consequently, the grand- 
father of Jesus. He must have been a God-fearing 
man to have been blessed by God with such a daughter 
and such close relationship with Jesus. 

6. Zacharias, the father of Saint John the Baptist, 
and Saint John the Baptist himself lived at this time in 
Judea. 

7. Saint John was a second cousin to Jesus. He 
was selected by God to close the prophetic preaching of 
the Old Testament and to begin teaching in the New 
Law. 

8. Saint Joseph, the chaste spouse of the Blessed 
Virgin Mary and the fosterfather and protector of 
Jesus and his holy mother, also, lived at this time. He 



78 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

must have been precious in the sight of God for being 
deemed worthy to embrace, support and protect the 
sacred person of Jesus. 

CHAPTER VI. 



Notable Women. 

There are many notable women mentioned in the 
Old Testament Bible. They are represented by the 
queen in cards. 

i. The first is Eve. She is the queen and mother of 
the entire human race. Though she permitted herself 
to be seduced by the serpent-devil and, though she was 
the first who transgressed God's holy law, she, also, set 
a noble example by her repentance and through God's 
mercy saved her soul and is venerated as a saint in 
heaven. 

2. Sarah, means "queen," and was the wife of 
Abraham and the mother of Isaac. She must have 
been a good wife and mother, for she, too, was willing, 
that her son should be offered up to God. 

3. Rebecca was the good and faithful wife of Isaac 
and mother of Jacob. She is praised for her wisdom in 
the Bible. 

4. Rachel, meaning "sheep," "mild as a lamb," was 
wife of Jacob and mother of the Egyptian Joseph. She 
surely deserves the name, queen, since Jacob served her 
father seven years for her. 

5. Jochabed, meaning "glorious," the mother of 
Moses, who so ingeniously saved her son who became 
the great liberator of her people. 

6. Maria, meaning "exalted," the sister of Moses, 
who so prudently helped to save her brother for her 
loving mother and for the people of God. 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY 79 

7. Sephora, the wife of Moses, must have been a 
noble woman ; for she stood faithfully by her husband 
in all his trials. 

8. Ruth (A. M. 2,708), who is praised for her piety, 
disinterestedness and kindness toward her mother-in 
law, Noemi, in her old age. She was a Moabite, not a 
Jewess. She was the great-grandmother of David, 
from whose family the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint 
Joseph came. Her home was at Bethlehem, the city of 
David and home of Mary and Joseph. That is, how 
Jesus came to be born there. Jesus thus descending, 
not from a Jewess, but from a Moabite, demonstrated, 
that he came to save not only Jews but all men. 

9. Anna (A. M. 2,848), meaning "gracious," was 
the wife of Elcana and the mother of the great, pious, 
prophet Samuel, whom she brought forth in her old 
age, and who was the answer to her prayers. She can 
well be compared to Sarah, the mother of Isaac, and to 
Elizabeth, the mother of Saint John the Baptist. 

10. Another Anna, meaning "merciful," who lived 
434 years later, was the wife of the God-fearing To- 
bias. She set a shining example for all women to stand 
by their husbands in all trials. 

11. Susanna (A. M. 3,410), meaning "lily," "rose," 
was the virtuous wife of Joachim, likely a distant rela- 
tive of Joachim, the father of the Blessed Virgin Mary. 
She fully deserves both of the interpretations of her 
name ; for she was pure as a lily and beautiful as a rose, 
wherefore two impure men sought to induce her to sin, 
like the wife of Putiphar had attempted to seduce the 
comely and clean-minded Egyptian Joseph to sin. But 
she valiantly with the help of God refused to offend 
God, whereupon the men falsely accused her of solicit- 
ing them to commit sin, just as Putiphar's wife, being 



80 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

rejected, falsely accused Joseph. But God is always on 
the side of virtue. Susanna was brought before the 
prophet Daniel, as judge. In separate cross-examina- 
tions the accusers so bluntly contradicted themselves, 
that Susanna's innocence and virtuousness became all 
the more apparent. 

12. Esther (A. M. 3,495) means "secret," or "hid- 
den." The devil used Eve in paradise to begin trouble ; 
but God at different times showed to the devil and to 
the world, that he can use woman to make the initiative 
for freeing his people from their enemies. Thus God 
employed the daughter of king Pharao and a sister and 
mother of Moses, and in the same manner God made 
Esther his instrument to save his people from exter- 
mination. She was a God-fearing Jewess and lived 
with her uncle, Mardochai, at Babylon. On account of 
her many good qualities Assuerus, king of Babylon, 
made her his queen. Aman, a cruel, bloodthirsty man,- 
was next to the king in power. He hated the Chosen 
People of God. Therefore, he falsely claimed to know, 
that the Jews were conspiring to revolt against the 
king, and he obtained an edict from the king to put all 
of them to death on the same day. Mardochai, who 
had previously saved the king from being assassinated, 
discovered the infamous plot and asked Esther to inter- 
cede with the king for her people. She prepared a ban- 
quet for the king and his nobles, among whom was 
Aman, whose cruel designs were laid bare to the king 
and Esther. Aman was ordered to be hung on the 
gibbet, which he had prepared for Mardochai, and 
Esther and her uncle and her people were honored by 
the king. Aman was a forcible example, of falling into 
the pit (hanging on the gallows), which some prepare 
for another. (P. 26.) 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY 81 

Lesson. Queen Esther was a splendid type of 
the Blessed Virgin Mary. i) The king exempted 
Esther from the cruelties of the Babylonian captivity : 
God exempted the Blessed Virgin Mary from the law 
and slavery of original sin. 2) Esther by her ingenuity 
saved her people : Mary gave the Savior to the people 
of all the world. 3) Mardochai was a faithful protec- 
tor of his niece, Esther : Joseph was a faithful guardian 
of Jesus and Mary. 4) Mardochai was placed in the 
highest office of the king: Joseph holds one of the high- 
est places in heaven, and is made the patron, protector, 
of the entire Catholic Church on earth. 

13. Judith. She was a wealthy and beautiful young 
widow. At her time Holofernes, an Assyrian general 
under king Nabuchodonozor, with his army devastated 
Judea, her home country, murdered people and burnt 
cities. Judith dressed herself in her best and made her 
way into the camp of Holofernes and into his good 
graces. When, after a big feast, he lay sleeping drunk, 
she secretly stole into his apartments and cut off his 
head with his own sword, in imitation of what David 
did over 500 years previously with Goliath. She thus 
gave her people the victory over their enemies. (P. 26.) 

14. At this time, at the close of the Old Testament 
and the beginning of the New, lived Saint Elizabeth, 
the mother of Saint John the Baptist. She acknowl- 
edged, that she received her son in her old age in 
answer to her prayers. She was a first cousin to the 
Blessed Virgin Mary, and her son, consequently, was a 
second cousin to our Lord. 

15. At this time, too, lived at Nazareth Anna, the 
wife of Saint Joachim and mother of the Blessed Vir- 
gin Mary, Mother of Jesus. She must have been a 
woman of extraordinary piety and virtues, having mer- 



82 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

ited to be chosen by God to produce his own divine 
mother and thus making her his grandmother. 

16. And now at the end of the Old Testament and 
at the beginning of the New there lived at Nazareth 
the greatest woman, that has ever lived, a most shining 
example of all virtues and a most perfect model for all 
women, young and old. She had been predicted by 
God in paradise and at the time of Noe, Abraham, 
Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses and the prophets, and she 
has become the true Queen of heaven and earth and 
the true Mother of God, the Blessed Virgin Mary. 

SECTION II. 

CHAPTER I. 



Birth of Jesus. 

The queen of hearts in the card-deck designates 
pure love and thus appropriately represents the Blessed 
Virgin Mary. 

i. While the Blessed Virgin Mary was in prayer in 
her humble home at Nazareth, the archangel Gabriel, 
sent by God, came to her and announced to her, that 
she was to become the Mother of God, saying: "Hail, 
Mary, full of grace ! the Lord is with thee ; blessed art 
thou among women." "For the Holy Ghost shall over- 
shadow thee and He, who shall be born of thee, shall 
be called Jesus." Mary consented to the mysterious 
designs of God. 

Lesson. Eve by her disobedience to the law of 
God delivered herself and her posterity into the power 
of the devil : Mary by her absolute obedience to the will 
of God "crushed the head", the power of the serpent, 
the devil, as God had predicted in paradise. 



NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY 83 

2. The archangel had also told Mary, that her 
cousin Elizabeth would in her old age bring forth a 
son, who was Saint John the Baptist. Hence, she went 
to visit Elizabeth, who saluted her : "Blessed art thou 
among* women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb," 
and Mary, overjoyous, sang: "Behold! henceforth all 
generations shall call me blessed." 

Lesson. For 1900 years this prophecy of the 
Blessed Virgin Mary has been fulfilled without 
interruption and everywhere in many ways, but espe- 
cially by the recitation of the "Hail Mary" in the Cath- 
olic Church. Another proof, that the Catholic Church 
is the only true Church of Christ ; for in it alone are 
the prophesies being fulfilled. And it is all from the 
Bible. 

3. Hearts in cards are the symbol of love. Thus 
the king of hearts is a type of Jesus Christ, the eternal 
Son of God and Lord and King of heaven and earth, 
with whose birth cf the Blessed Virgin Alary began 
the christian era. He was born, not at Nazareth, the 
home of his Blessed Mother and Saint Joseph, but at 
Bethlehem, because Mary and Joseph went to Bethle- 
hem for the enumeration of the census ; for people had 
to be enrolled in the city of their forefathers, and both 
Mary and Joseph were from the house, family and city 
of David, Bethlehem, near Jerusalem, in Asia Minor. 
On account of this enrollment the city was over- 
crowded, and Mary and Joseph could not find any room 
for lodging, excepting in a stable beneath a rock outside 
of the city. There Jesus was born, as had been fore- 
told by the prophet Micheas. Mary wrapped him up 
and laid him in the manger for want of a better place. 
The angels from heaven came and announced his birth 
to the shepherds, who were* taking care of their flocks 



84 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

in the neighborhood, and also foretold the object of 
his coming, namely to give "Glory to God in the high- 
est and peace to men on earth of good will." They 
came and found everything, as the angels had foretold 
it to them and they adored the newborn Infant King. 

4. The eight-spot of cards reminds us, that, when 
Jesus was eight days old, he solemnly received the 
name Jesus, as the angel had told Mary and Joseph, 
that his name should be. 

5. Shortly after his birth three kings, represented 
by the other three kings of the card-deck, were led 
from the far East by a -miraculous star to Bethlehem, 
where they offered the Child King their gifts and 
adoration. 

6. The forty spots on the four ten-spot cards re- 
mind us, that, when Jesus was forty days old, Mary 
and Joseph brought him to the temple in Jerusalem to 
there offer him to God. 

7. During this time king Herod of Jerusalem heard 
the wonderful things about Jesus. He feared, he 
would be dethroned. He strove to kill the Child. To 
make doubly sure, he ordered all the male children 
under two years of age to be murdered. But an angel 
warned Joseph to take the Child and his Mother and 
flee into far-off Egypt. Thus Jesus was saved. When 
Herod had died a most cruel death for his crimes, the 
angel again told Joseph to go back to Nazareth with the 
Child and his Mother. 

8. The twelve picture-cards in the card-deck re- 
mind us, that annually Mary and Joseph went a long 
journey to Jerusalem to celebrate the Pasch. At such 
a visit, when Jesus was. twelve years old, he unknown 
to his parents, remained in Jerusalem. On their way 
home they sought him among the crowds, but, not 



NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY 85 

finding him, went back aad found him in the temple 
amidst the doctors of the Law and confounding them 
with his answers and questions. When his mother 
called him to account for causing them such sorrow, he 
said, he had to be about his Father's business. 

9. When Jesus was thirty years of age, Saint John 
the Baptist, who was of the same age, came forth 
openly declaring, that the promised Messiah was near, 
and exhorted the people to penance. To prepare them- 
selves for his worthy reception, they came to Saint 
John and confessed their sins. Hence, there was con- 
fession in the Old Law. Why not in the New? After 
this Saint John pointed out Jesus, as the Lamb of God, 
who would take the sins of the world away. 

Lesson. In the Old Testament the priest daily 
offered up a lamb, slain, and burned it on the altar at 
the temple in Jerusalem. That was a figure of some- 
thing, that was to be done in the New Law, wherein 
Jesus Christ is himself this lamb-sacrifice, which was 
offered up in a bloody manner on the cross on Mount 
Calvary and which is daily offered up in an unbloody 
manner by the priest under the appearance of bread 
and wine in the holy sacrifice of the Mass. Nowhere 
else is this sacrifice found, but in the Catholic Church. 
Hence, that alone ought to be sufficient proof, that the 
Catholic Church is the only true Church of Christ ; and 
it is all taken from the Bible. 

10. It was at this time, that Saint John baptized 
Jesus in the river Jordan, at which occasion the three 
divine persons in God were made manifest, for the 
Holy Ghost appeared in the form of a dove, and the 
Father's voice was heard from heaven, saying: "this 
is my beloved Son." 



86 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

ii. Thereupon Jesus fasted forty days in the des- 
ert. Then the devil tempted him i) to change stones 
into bread, that he might eat ; but Jesus said : "Man 
does not live of bread alone, but of every word that 
comes from the mouth of God." 2) To cast himself 
down from the pinnacle of the temple, for angels might 
protect him; but Jesus said, it were wrong to tempt 
God to perform miracles. 3) The devil offered to give 
Jesus all the world, if he would adore him. But Jesus 
said: Be gone satan, God alone deserves adoration. 

12. There are twelve picture-cards in the card- 
deck. They represent the twelve apostles of Jesus. He 
selected them in this order: 1) Andrew and 2) John, 
who had, also, been followers of Saint John the Bap- 
tist. Andrew introduced his brother 3) Simon, whom 
Jesus accepted and changed his name to Peter, fore- 
boding great things; 4) Philip, who introduced to 
Jesus his brother, 5) Bartholomew; 6) James; 7) 
Thomas; 8) James the Younger; 9) Matthew; 10) 
Simon; 11) Thaddeus; 12) Judas Iscariot, who be- 
came a traitor, and in whose place the other eleven 
apostles later selected Mathias. 

13. Upon the request of his holy Mother, Jesus 
performed his first public miracle by changing water 
into wine at the wedding feast of Cana in Galilee. God, 
the Father, had instituted marriage with Adam and 
Eve in paradise and made it a union between one man 
and one wife only. Jesus elevated it to the dignity of 
a holy sacrament. A little later he declared against 
divorce, saying : let no man put away his wife, nor wife 
her husband, "for what God has joined together, let 
no man put asunder." He made no exception. This 
the Catholic Church has always taught. Another of 



NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY 87 

the many proofs, that she alone does observe, what the 
Bible says. 

14. Some of the apostles were fishing in Lake Gene- 
sareth. Jesus came to them. A crowd of people had 
followed to hear him preach. He stepped into the 
apostle Peter's boat and taught the people on the shore. 

Lesson. Peter's ship was a figure of the Catholic 
Church. As Jesus taught in it at that lake, so he has 
for 1900 years taught the people in the great sea of 
this world through his holy Catholic Church. Every- 
where in the Bible are proofs, which cannot be brushed 
aside, that the Catholic Church is the only true Church 
of Christ. 

15. At another time Jesus healed a leper from his 
incurable disease and then told him to go and show 
himself to the priest and offer the gift, as penance, pre- 
scribed by the Law of Moses. 

Lesson. 1. The priests of the Old Law were 
only prefigures of his priests of the New Law; yet, 
Jesus upholds their dignity, power and office, for, 
though he had cleansed the leper, he told him to go to 
the priest and to receive the declaration of being clean. 
How much more so does Jesus want the dignity and 
power and office of his priests to be upheld! For of 
them he said : "You are the salt of the earth. You are 
the light of the world. He, who hears you, hears me. 
He, who despises you, despises me. Go and teach every 
creature" without any distinction of race or color. 
"Whose sins you shall forgive they are forgiven." 

2. Leprosy is a figure of sin ; for as leprosy affects 
the body, sin affects the soul, and to his priests Christ 
gave the power to cleanse from this spiritual leprosy. 

3. Christ's priests are found in the Catholic Church 
alone. Consequently, in it alone is found forgiveness 



88 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

of sins. All men are sinners more or less. No one can 
enter heaven with sin unforgiven. Consequently, the 
only safe way is to belong to the Catholic Church and 
make frequent use of confession and the cleansing 
power of the priest in forgiving sins. 

1 6. All through the Bible it is clear, that God in his 
infinite mercy gladly forgives those sinners, who sin- 
cerely repent, confess and do penance for their sins. 
Jesus gave a consoling illustration of this fact. One of 
those hypocritical Pharisees invited him to dinner, dur- 
ing which Mary Magdalene, who had been an unfortu- 
nate and sinful woman, entered, knelt at the feet of 
Jesus, shed tears of repentance on them and kissed 
them. The Pharisee murmured at this and said: "If 
Jesus were a prophet, he would know, that that woman 
was a sinner." Jesus said to him : if a man forgive two 
unequal debtors, who will love him most ! The Phari- 
see said : "The one, to whom, he forgave most." Jesus 
answered : "Thus many sins are forgiven this woman 
because she has loved much." At another time a 
woman was brought to him for condemnation, who was 
caught in the act of sinning. He asked those, who were 
innocent to throw the first stones at her. Not one 
threw any, and Jesus dismissed her with a kind admoni- 
tion, not to sin again, and, perhaps, told the people : "do 
not judge, lest you be judged." "Ye, hypocrits, see the 
splinter in your neighbor's eye, but the beam in your 
own eye, you do not see." "You should forgive injur- 
ies seventy-seven times seven," indefinitely. The same 
great truth he taught by the story of the prodigal son, 
who left his father's house, squandered all his goods in 
sinful living, then returned to his father's house, asked 
forgiveness and obtained it. 



NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY 89 

17. Jesus foreknew, that some people would find 
fault with the priest's sermon. Therefore, he gave an 
illustration; saying: "a man sowed good seed. Some 
fell on the hard road, where the birds picked it up; 
some fell on stony ground, where it could not grow for 
want of soil ; some fell among brush, where it choked ; 
some fell on good ground, where it brought forth fruit 
one hundredfold. " Then he explained : "the seed is the 
Word of God ; the hard road, on which some seed fell, 
are those, who listen to the sermon and read good 
books, but the devil Comes and picks it out of their 
hearts, for believing it and following it, they would be 
saved ; the stony ground are those, who gladly hear the 
sermon and read good books, but they have not the 
courage to live according to it; the thorns are those, 
who listen to the sermon, but afterwards are so busy 
about worldly affairs that they forget all about it and, 
consequently, it does them little good ; the good ground 
are those, who listen to the sermon with a good, humble 
heart and apply it all to themselves and shape their 
daily lives according to it and are saved." Conse- 
quently, the Bible finds no fault with the sermon, nor 
with the preacher. The whole fault is with the soil, 
that is, with the minds and hearts of the listeners. 
Each one must prepare the soil ; then the preacher and 
God's grace will do the rest, and, if the sermon does 
you no good, it is your fault. (P. 63, 70, 89.) 

18. Jesus foreknew, some people would find fault 
with his Church, the Catholic Church, because there 
were bad people in it. He met this objection by a para- 
ble saying: In a field of good grain were also weeds. 
The servants asked the master, whether they should 
pull up the weeds. He said, "no; for by pulling up 
the weeds, you will tramp down also some of the good 



90 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

grain. At the time of harvest we will separate them. 
The wheat we will gather into the barn : the weeds we 
will burn." The field is the Catholic Church, wherein 
are both good and bad. In fact it is for sinners, ks 
Christ came to save sinners. If there were no sinners, 
there would be no need of a church. The end of the 
world is the time of harvest, when the good will be 
gathered into heaven, the bad will burn in hell. There- 
fore, enter the Catholic Church now and become better. 

CHAPTER II. 

i. Jesus, during the three years of his public life, 
while teaching, preaching, healing the sick and afflicted 
of all kinds, forgiving and consoling sinners, driving 
out devils, performing many miracles and telling many 
parables, on many occasions upbraided the proud Phar- 
isees and the Jews generally. They did not like his doc- 
trine, for he showed them up in their true light. They 
have plenty imitators. When the priest lays down the 
law to toughs, they slander him, hunt him, but to their 
own destruction. (P. 63.) Hence, they repeatedly 
resolved to murder him. Their rage knew no bounds, 
when the people one day in great public procession tri- 
umphantly led him into Jerusalem and loudly saluted 
him, as the Son of David, coming in the name of the 
Lord. This event is celebrated in the Catholic Church 
on Palm Sunday. The next Thursday, now called 
Maundy Thursday, was the annual feast day for the 
celebration of the Pasch, the slaying and the eating of 
the flesh of a lamb in commemoration of that Paschal 
Lamb, by which the Chosen People of God had been 
saved from the slaying angel in Egypt, and of thanks- 
giving for their deliverance from the Egyptian bond- 
age. Jesus celebrated this feast with his apostles in a 



NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY 91 

hall at Jerusalem. At this Supper he instituted the 
Sacrifice of the Mass and the Most Holy Sacrament of 
the Altar just so as it is had in the Catholic Church. 

2. Judas Iscariot for thirty pieces of silver sold, 
delivered, Jesus to his enemies, who were seeking him 
to murder him. After he had prayed all night, prepar- 
ing for his bitter passion and death, they took him out 
and had him most unjustly condemned to be crucified. 
They heaped countless abuse and insult upon him, made 
him carry his own heavy cross up the steep Mount of 
Calvary outside of Jerusalem, and there most inhu- 
manly nailed him to it through hands and feet, where, 
after three hours of inexpressible agony he died. To 
make doubly sure, that he was dead, a cruel soldier 
pierced his heart with a lance. Thus on Calvary was 
fulfilled that great sacrifice, of which all the sacrifices 
of the Old Law had been mere prefigures, and by 
which sufficient atonement was given to God for all the 
offenses to him by the sins of men, and all that was 
accomplished, for which God had destroyed men by the 
deluge, brought his people out of Egypt into the Land 
of Promise, awoke the patriarchs and did so many 
wonderful things, to preserve the true faith in him the 
true God and to produce one, from whom Jesus might 
be born. 

3. The sacred body of Jesus was buried, and on the 
third day he arose by his own power to life, which 
is the greatest of all his astounding miracles and the 
crowning proof of his divinity. 

4. He remained forty days on earth instructing his 
apostles. It was during that time he gave his apostles 
and through them to all their lawful successors, the 
bishops and priests in the Catholic Church, the power 
of forgiving sins, as it has been taught, believed, had. 



92 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

and practiced in the Catholic Church for 1900 years, 
and has helped numberless millions of immortal souls 
to heaven and will continue to do so as long, as there 
will be sinners on earth. 

5. After forty days he ascended into heaven by his 
own power and took with him into heaven all, who 
were detained in Limbo, and opened heaven, which had 
been closed by the sin of our first parents, and which 
remains open for all, who make themselves worthy of 
the merits of his redemption by being baptized and liv- 
ing according to God's law and who receive the sara- 
ments of penance and of the holy Eucharist and who 
obey the holy Catholic Church. 

6. From heaven he sent down the Holy Ghost upon 
the apostles and upon his Church, as he had promised, 
who ever abides with her and them and takes care, that 
the Church does not fall into error, so that she may 
and does safely lead people to their happy home in 
heaven, who confide themselves to her. 

7. After the Holy Ghost had come upon the apos- 
tles, they went into the world to preach, teach, baptize 
and offer up the holy sacrifice of the Mass, forgive sins 
and distribute the holy sacraments, as their divine mas- 
ter had commanded them. Their successors, bishops 
and priests, in spite of all opposition, lies and misrep- 
resentations of their enemies, spread Christ's doctrine 
and established his Church in every country, nation, 
island, and in every language throughout the entire 
world and, according to Christ's promises, are doing 
so now and will continue to do so until the end of 
time. Countless millions of souls have been led safely 
to the shores of a happy eternity, and the same will 
surely be done for you, if you confide yourself to the 
Catholic Church, wherein is true faith, true hope, true 



NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY 93 

charity, the real forgiveness of sin, the real sacrifice of 
divine worship, and the genuine feeding of souls with 
the bread of life in holy communion and the clear 
teaching of the pure gospel for salvation. The deck of 
playing cards illustrates it all, and it is all founded on 
the Bible. 



PART THREE. 

SECTION I. 
CHAPTER I. 



Twelve Articles of the Apostle's Creed. Twelve 
Picture Cards. 

The card-deck does not only contain the entire 
Bible, as has been demonstrated in Part II, but also 
all the teachings of the Catholic Church. She teaches 
everything without the least exception that is con- 
tained in the whole Bible. It is the foundation of all 
her teachings. That is the reason, why the Bible has 
been briefly explained in the preceding part. 

What, then, are the doctrines of the Catholic 
Church ! 

i. There are twelve picture-cards in the card- 
deck. They represent the twelve articles in the Apos- 
tle's Creed, in which are briefly and concisely con- 
tained the entire teachings of the Catholic Church. 
Though the twelve picture-cards of the card-deck 
remind us of the twelve articles of our holy faith, the 
number "twelve" has also a mystical signification. 
And what is that? In the Old Testament (III. Mos. 
8, 8.) the high-priest wore a breastplate, on which 
twelve precious stones were set, of which the twelve 
picture-cards again remind us. These twelve jewels 
were set in four rows of which the four suits of the 
twelve picture-cards remind us, and they were three 



V 
APOSTLE'S CREED IN GENERAL 95 

in a row, of which the three picture-cards of each suit 
remind us. On each stone was inscribed the name of 
the twelve tribes of Israel (P. 46), of which the twelve 
picture-cards once more remind us. On the breast- 
plate was the inscription : "Light and Truth." These 
twelve articles of the Catholic faith are likened to 
those twelve precious jewels. As the Jewish high- 
priest wore that breastplate, to show that he was the 
representative of the Most High, in like manner the 
twelve apostles, as true representatives of the true 
High-priest, Jesus Christ, carried those twelve articles 
of faith to all the nations of the earth, and, as "Light 
and Truth" were written on the breastplate on the 
high-priest of old, thus the twelve apostles by the 
twelve articles of the true faith spread the real light 
and truth about God and man over all the world. 

2. In the Old Testament (II. Mos. 25, 30.) at the 
entrance of the sacred tent on a golden table were 
twelve loaves of bread. The twelve articles of the 
Catholic faith are likened unto those twelve loaves of 
bread. For, as the twelve loaves were at the entrance 
into the sacred tent, thus the twelve articles of our 
holy faith give us heavenly bread at the entrance into 
the holy Catholic Church by the holy sacrament of bap- 
tism. 

3. After the Israelites, who at that time were the 
Chosen People of God, had departed out of Egypt, 
the land of bondage and of oppression, God com- 
manded them to build an altar of twelve stones at the 
entrance of the Land of Promise. (V. Mos. 27, 5.) 
The twelve articles of the Catholic faith are likewise 
twelve stones, out of which a spiritual altar is con- 
structed in the soul of man. Thus it becomes appar- 
ent, that the number twelve of the articles of the apos- 



96 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

tie's creed is not by chance, nor devoid of beautiful 
meaning; and all is taken from the Bible. 

4. The fifty-three cards in a card-deck are neces- 
sary for a complete whole. Not one is superfluous. 
They all have some connection and relation to each 
other. Each is necessary for all and all are necessary 
for each one. Just so it is with the twelve articles of 
the Catholic faith. That is the reason, why they are 
called "articles". Article means link. Each card in a 
card-deck is something complete in itself, yet each 
card is not a card-deck. It is only a card. Just so 
each link in a chain is something complete in itself, yet 
it is not a chain. It is only a link. If even one link is 
taken out, it destroys the chain, and there is no longer 
a chain, but there are pieces of a chain. Just so it is 
with the twelve articles of the Catholic creed. They 
all bear the same relation to one another and to the 
whole creed, as every card does to the whole 
deck, and as each link does to the chain. As not one 
card can be removed without rendering the deck defec- 
tive, nor one link removed without destroying the 
chain, just so, not one article of faith can be denied 
without practically in their logical deductions denying 
others. 

5. Why are they called "Apostle's" Creed? Our 
Holy Redeemer commanded his apostles to go out into 
the whole world and preach his gospel. At that time, 
when he gave them this command and at the time, 
when he went home to his heavenly Father on Ascen- 
sion Day, not a word of his gospel was written. 
Hence, before they started out to preach the gospel to 
all nations, they came together in Jerusalem and drew 
up just as briefly and concisely, as possible, everything, 
what their divine Master had taught them. After 



APOSTLE 'S CREED, WHEREFROM 97 

some preliminary discussion, as is very natural in an 
assembly of that kind, in order to get down to real 
business, it was decided, that each one should do some- 
thing, and they were called upon evidently according 
to the position of importance, which they held among 
themselves. Hence, they first called on Peter, whom 
Christ had made their head. He drew up the first arti- 
cle and said: "I believe in God, the Father Almighty, 
Creator of heaven and earth. " Then 
Saint Andrew, the 2d: "and in Jesus Christ, his only 
Son our Lord." 
Then 

Saint James, the Elder, the 3d : "who was conceived by 
the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary." Then 
Saint John, the 4th: "suffered under Pontius Pilate, 
was crucified, dead and buried." Then 
Saint Thomas, the 5th : "he descendeth into hell ; the 
third day he arose again from the dead." Then 
Saint James the Younger, the 6th : "he ascended into 
heaven, sitteth at the right hand of God, the Father 
Almighty." Then 

Saint Philip, the 7th : "from thence he shall come, to 
judge the living and the dead." Then 
Saint Bartholomew, the 8th : "I believe in the Holy 
Ghost." Then 

Saint Matthew, the 9th : "The Holy Catholic Church ; 
the communion of saints." Then 
Saint Simon, the 10th : "the forgiveness of sin." Then 
Saint Thaddeus, the nth: "the resurrection of the 
body." Then 

Saint Mathias, the 12th : "and life everlasting. Amen/' 

There is nothing to show, that the apostles wrote 

these twelve articles of faith on paper; but they did 

write them into their own minds and hearts and then 



98 



CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 



went forth into the world and wrote them by their 
preaching into the minds and hearts of thousands, and 
their lawful successors, the bishops and priests, have 
continued to do so for 1900 years, and this book is 
precisely doing that very same thing, explaining 
through the medium of a deck of playing cards all the 
tenets contained in those, twelve articles of the apostle's 
creed. The twelve picture-cards, also, represent the 
twelve apostles. 

CHAPTER II. 



First Article of Apostle's Creed : "I believe in God, 

the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven 

and earth." 

Hearts in the card-deck is the symbol of love. 
"God is love." (1. Jo. 4, 8.) Therefore, hearts re- 
mind us of the first great 
fundamental doctrine of 
the Catholic Church, that 
is contained in the apostle's 
creed: "There is a God." 
This truth is so certain, so 
evident to reason, that no 
one in his right mind can 
deny it. That is the rea- 
son, why holy Scripture 
says, that only "the fool 
says in his heart there is 
no God." ( Ps. 30, 1 . ) , be- 
cause in his mind he can- 
not convince himself, that 
there is no God, nor with 
his mouth, because he can- 




THERE IS A GOD. HEART ACE 99 

not prove, that there is no God; but in his heart, be- 
cause in his heart he wishes, there were no God, to 
whom he would be responsible for all his thoughts and 
all his desires and all his words and all his actions and 
omissions of good deeds. 

God, however, is a pure spirit and we cannot see him 
with bodily eyes. Who convinces us, that there is a 
God? i) The world; 2) our heart; 3) our conscience; 
4) divine revelation — the four great sources of proof 
— of which the four in the card-deck reminds us. 

I. The visible universe and all things in it convince 
us, that there is a God : 

1. By the very fact of their existence; for they 
would not be, if there were no God, w T ho has given 
them existence. The Catholic Church does not teach: 
1 ) That we do not know whence the world is ; for man 
by his reason must be able to perceive from the great 
effects the great Cause, the great omnipotent Power, 
that has brought all these things into existence, and 
that Cause, that Power, is precisely, what we call God. 
The Catholic Church does not teach 2) that the world 
has come into existence by chance ; for there is no such 
thing at all as chance in reality, and, consequently, it 
cannot do something. It is only an expression for 
things, conditions and circumstances, for which better 
language fails us. There must be a real power, that 
has brought things into existence, and that real power 
is precisely, what we call God. 3) The Catholic 
Church does not teach, that the world has given exist- 
ence to itself ; because that can not be ; for a thing, 
that does not exist, is incapable of doing anything, but 
needs some other, already existing, and therefore eter- 
nal and all-powerful Being to give it existence, and 
that great first existing Being is precisely what we call 



100 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

God. Look at a deck of cards. Will anyone say : we 
do not know, how it came into existence? Will any- 
one say, it came into existence by chance ? Surely not. 
Will anyone say, it gave itself existence? Evidently 
not. It presupposes a maker. The same thing must 
be said of this universe. The Maker of it is precisely, 
what we call God. Hence, as certain, as the universe 
exists, just so certain is it, that there is a God, and this 
is in perfect harmony with the teaching of the Church 
and what the Bible says, as we have seen in Part II, 
Chapter I. 

2. The Catholic Church teaches, that the superb 
beauty, its immeasurable magnitude and the wonderful 
harmony in the universe and between the diversified 
parts of it convince us of the existence of God, for all 
men are powerless to cause even one star to shine, or 
a cloud to pass in the heavens, or to manufacture a liv- 
ing flower. Do you say : "the laws of nature do these 
things?'' Very well; who produces and upholds the 
laws of nature? A man cannot even cause a wind to 
blow over the earth. There is no other way out, but 
to admit, that there is an all-wise, and all-powerful 
Being, who has produced and who preserves all. That 
Being is precisely, what we call God. What wonders 
among things, that surround us? The bird, that flies, 
says : There is a God. Its every chirp, its every song, 
says: There is a God. The fish in the water say: 
There is a God. The spider, that webs, says : There 
is a God. The caterpillar, that changes into a brisk 
butterfly and lives for a few days only, says : There is 
a God. The plant, that grows, says : There is a God. 
The flower, that blooms, says : There is a God. Every 
color of every flower is a writing in the various shades 
of ink, saying : There is a God. The seed grain laid 



THERE IS A GOD. HEART ACE 101 

away in the ground and multiplying a hundred times, 
says: There is a God. The kernel, that is laid in the 
soil, and grows to a magnificent tree, says: There is 
a God. Every wind, that blows, says : There is a God. 
Every cloud, that passes by, says : There is a God. 
Every drop of rain and every snowflake, that falls, 
says : There is a God. Every star, that shines, says : 
There is a God. Every new day that dawns and every 
night that falls, says : There is a God. Every spring 
and every summer and autumn and winter, that enter- 
change, say : There is a God. The entire universe, as 
a whole and everything in it, great, or small, is an 
undeniable proof for human reason, that there is a 
God ; because they would not be, if there were no God, 
who had created them. Thus the universe becomes an 
open book, out of which all without distinction of race, 
or color, learning, position, or possession, can read this 
great fundamental teaching of the Catholic Church : 
'There is a God." All this is taken from the Bible, 
and the ace of hearts reminds you of all. Do you 
believe all this? If so, you are in so far a Catholic. 

II. The human heart convinces us, that there is 
a God. How so? Almighty God was not satisfied 
with creating and maintaining a universe in such a 
manner, that everyone can perceive him to be the Crea- 
tor, but he gave every man something in his heart, by 
which he is ceaselessly reminded of this same great 
truth: There is a God. 

i. There is a voice within everyone, that tells us 
of one thing: that is good; you ought to do it; of 
another it says : that is bad ; you must not do that. 
This voice often makes itself felt contrary to our 
wishes. No one can suppress it fully and permanently. 
What is it? It is the voice of conscience. Whence is 



102 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

it? It is in all men without distinction of race, color, 
education, knowledge, position and possessions. Con- 
sequently, it is something, that is not acquired. It is 
something not given by education. Education can only 
correct it, perfect it, sharpen it. Since it is found in 
all men, there is no other explanation, but that it is a 
natural law, implanted in. human nature by the Creator 
himself, and, consequently, it is God himself, who 
causes us fear at evil thoughts, evil words and actions, 
and it is the same God, who causes us joy and consola- 
tion at good thoughts, good words and good deeds, and 
he does it in such a way, that no one anywhere, under 
any condition, or any circumstances can help, but to 
hear this voice all the time. Therefore, there is a God. 
III. The history of the different races and lan- 
guages convinces us of the same great teaching of the 
Catholic Church, that there is a God. How so? 
Another undeniable proof, which infidel historians and 
scientists have not been able to explain away, that there 
is a God, is the fact, that all nations and tribes of the 
earth have at" all times, believed in a Supreme Being 
and that that Supreme Being must be pleased, hon- 
ored, served and adored, though their conception of 
him be ever so erroneous. How do we know this? 
From this fact, that all have a name for God. Some- 
thing, that people know absolutely nothing about, they 
have no name for. There are 3,034 languages spoken 
on earth. Every one of them has its name for God. 
Here are a few examples ; one for each card in the 
card-deck. In the .language of 1) Japan: Grozer, 
also, 2) Zain; 3) China: Prussa; 4) Malay: Eesel; 
5) East India : Zuel, also, 6) Eesgi ; 7) Tartary : Tgan ; 
8) Hindoostan : Rain ; 9) Persia : Sire, also, 10) Sira ; 
11) Tahiti: Atua; 12) Arabia: Alia; 13) Turkey: 



NAMES FOR GOD. HEART ACE 103 

Addi, also, 14) Alah; 15) the Hebrews: Jehovah, 
16) Elohim, 17) Aden, 18) Eli; 19) Syria: Adad; 20) 
Assyria: Eliah; 21) Chaldea: Eilah; 22) Arminia: 
Teute; 23) Tartary: Matogal; 24) Madagascar : Zan- 
nar; 25) Old Egypt: Teut; 26) New Egypt: Zeut, 
also, 27) Aumn; 28) Greece: Theos; 29) Crete: 
Thios; 30) the Latins: Deus; 31) Italy: Dio; 32) 
Spain: Dios; 33) Portugal: Deos; 34) Slavonia: 
Buch; 35) Poland: Bog, also, 36) Bogo; ^7) France: 
Dieu; 38) Heathan Germany: Wodan; 39) Germany: 
Gott; 40) Flanders: Goed; 41) Denmark: Gude; 42) 
Lapland: Dupint; 43) Scandinavia: Odin; 44) Nor- 
way; Gud; 45) Sweden: Oodd; 46) Ireland, old, Dia; 
47) the New Irish, Dich; 48) Old, low, Britanny: 
Daue; 49) the English: God; 50) Finland: Jumala; 
51) Walachia: Seue; 52) Peruvia: Llan; 53) the 
North American Indian: Manitou. 

How explain this historical fact? Did someone 
tramp all the world over and give each tribe of a differ- 
ent tongue a name for God? Impossible. There is 
just one explanation acceptable for it and that is this : 
all men have their peculiar traits and characteristics, 
likes and dislikes, knowledge and ignorance, looks, 
voice, eyes, by which they all differ from each other. 
In only one thing they are all alike, and that is human 
nature. Consequently, when we find all the various 
peoples of this world believing one and the same thing, 
believing in a Supreme Being, there is no other logical 
explanation, but that that belief is, as it were, born 
right in every man. This proof also does away with 
the falsity of the oft-repeated saying : "We cannot all 
believe alike. " Yes, we can and we should; for it is 
only natural to do so. Why do not all do so? Be- 
cause they misuse their free-will. They do not all ac- 



104 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

cept the great truth of the existence of God and the 
teachings of his holy Church, because they wish to be 
free to transgress the ten commandments of God and 
the precepts of his holy Church. They do so for the 
same reason, that the fool in his heart says : "There is 
no God/' though he well knows, there is a God. 

IV. The Bible tells us and the Catholic Church 
plainly teaches, that there is a God. No one who be- 
lieves in the Bible, doubts it. Hence, there is no need 
of proving it from the Bible. Do you believe all this ? 
If so, you are in so far a Catholic. 

The ace of hearts does not only remind us of the 
existence of God, but, also, of this great truth that 
there is only one God, for reason clearly tells us, that 
God is the highest being and, consequently cannot have 
an equal. It is just as clear, as that there is only one 
ace of hearts in a card-deck. It is just as clear from 
the Bible, that there is only one God. No truth is 
more forcibly inculcated in both the Old and New 
Testament, than this, that there is only one God. 
When the Bible says, that some men make their belly 
their god, it means, that some on account of worldly 
goods and their animal passions forget God. There 
will be no difficulty in believing, what the Catholic 
teaches, that there is only one God, if you so live, that 
you naturally could wish, there were only one, to 
reward you for your fidelity to him. Do you believe 
all this? If so, you are in so far a Catholic and you 
can remember all by the little ace of hearts. 

CHAPTER III. 

Who is God? King of Hearts. 

It is much easier to prove, that there is a God, than 
to tell, what he is. No one, no matter, how learned, 



WHO IS GOD? HEART KING 105 

can fully comprehend, what God is. Why? Because 
there is a limit to human knowledge, but there is no 
limit to God. If we studied a long lifetime and if we 
learned something new about God every moment of 
such a life, we would not yet fully know, what God is. 
Should we, then, desist from attempting to know God ? 
No, indeed. Should we despair of learning to know 
God? Certainly not. There are some things, which 
we must know about God, in order to come to him in 
heaven. What, then/ do we know about God? A 
good many truths. The ace of hearts and some other 
cards in the card-deck will remind us of them. 

Who is God? It is easier to tell, what God is not, 
than to tell, what he is. If we mention every thing and 
every body in existence, we have told, what God is not, 
but thereby we have not yet begun to tell, what he is. 
If we imagine the highest, the most beautiful, the most 
precious, the holiest and all in the highest degree, we 
have not yet begun to imagine, what God is. But, if 
we place concisely together all, what reason and the 
Bible tell us about him, we say : God is the one neces- 
sary, self-existing, eternal, infinitely perfect Spirit, 
from whom all good comes, who has given existence to 
all things and who, consequently, is the Sovereign 
Lord and Master of heaven and earth and all things 
therein. 

I. A spirit is a being, which thinks and wills, but 
which we with our bodily senses cannot perceive. The 
soul is a spirit, but it is attached to our body. Hence, 
it is not a pure spirit. The angels are pure spirits, 
because they have no body ; but they are not infinitely 
perfect spirits. God, however, is the infinitely perfect 
Spirit. 



106 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

AN OBJECTION SOLVED: "The Bible often 
speaks of God's eyes, God's heart, God's ears, God's 
arms. How is that to be understood, if God has no 
body?" That is to be understood not literally, but fig- 
uratively. They are all expressions to make us under- 
stand, that Almighty God operates by his all-powerful 
will, that he wills all by his omniscience and that he 
feels all by his infinite love for truth. 

2. God is not only a pure spirit, but he is also the 
infinitely perfect spirit. What does that mean? It 
means, that God possesses all kinds of qualities, attrib- 
utes, perfections, which are better to have, than not to 
have, and they are infinite in degree and infinite in 
number. Man has qualities, too, but his qualities are 
all limited. 

3. God is the Lord and Master of heaven and earth, 
from whom all good comes. What does that mean? 
It means, that heaven and earth are God's own prop- 
erty, and that nothing good can be thought of, that has 
not its source in God. The Bible tells us, that the devil 
took our Lord, Jesus, upon a high mountain and 
showed him all the kingdoms of the world and all the 
glory thereof and then said: "All these will I give 
thee, if thou wilt fall down and adore me." The devil 
acted, as if everything belonged to him, whereas noth- 
ing belongs to him, but sin. Everything belongs to - 
God. Those who try to get more of this earth, than 
they can properly use, by wronging others and who use ) 
their money for dissipation, for sinful purposes, imi- 
tate the devil ; for God only wills, that everyone should 2 
have his decent share of this world's goods for an hon- 
est and decent living and for doing good, but not for 
transgressing his holy laws. 



WHAT IS GOD? HEART ACE 107 

4. From God all good comes. Everything, that 
man and all beings and things are and have, is from 
God. You cannot think of a single thing, that is good 
either for your body, or mind, or soul, that is not from 
God, down to your daily life and food, joy of life and 
the great truths of the holy Catholic Church, as ex- 
plained to you by a deck of cards in this book, that is 
not from God. Over and above all these natural gifts 
are, consequently, his precious gifts of grace, by which 
he enables us to do his holy will and merit life ever- 
lasting. Do you believe all this ? If so, you are in so 
far a Catholic. 

CHAPTER IV. 



What is God? 

Of the most of God's attributes we have no knowl- 
edge, because it has not pleased him to reveal anything 
of them to us. Of those, of which we do know some- 
thing, our knowledge is very imperfect. But it is im- 
portant, that we know something of them. They can 
be placed under three headings, of which the three in 
cards remind us, and under each heading will be five 
qualities, of which the five in cards remind us. Thus 
we will have fifteen great attributes in God, of which 
all the spots in the ace, jack, queen and king of hearts 
remind us. 

Five attributes of God are knowable from his own 
divine nature and essence. They are: 

1. God's necessity. What does that mean? It 
means, that God is such that it is impossible for him 
not to be, while all other creatures may be and may 
also not be. There was a time, when sun, moon, plan- 
ets, stars, this earth, angels, men and animals and 



108 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

plants were not. They may, consequently also not be. 
They are only, because God wills it. It is different 
with God. He must be. Sometimes some men imag- 
ine, that they are absolutely necessary for a certain 
office, or position, and that, if they did not hold certain 
offices and positions in the nation, in the country, in 
the state, in the city, in the Church, then the country, 
the state, the city, the Church, would go to destruction. 
But those are idle dreams. The world misses no one. 
Everything goes on just the same without such self- 
esteemed men. The only place, where sometimes some 
individual is really missed, is the small family circle. 
Only God is absolutely necessary for the whole world 
for everyone and everything in it. It is good for us, 
that God is absolutely necessary ; for from it we know, 
that our happiness in eternity will be a necessary one, 
if we are only faithful to him in this life. 

2. God's eternity. The word "eternity" is used in 
three different significations : i ) We sometimes call 
that eternal, which has a beginning and an end, but 
which lasts a long time, as, for instance, the Bible says, 
that "God's praise upon earth is eternal." 2) That is 
eternal, which has a beginning but which will live for- 
ever, as, for instance, the human soul. 3) It means 
that eternity, which has neither beginning nor end, 
and that is the eternity, which is proper to God alone. 

Everything and every being outside of God once 
was not. But God always was. We exist in time; 
God does not ; he exists in eternity. There is no past, 
no future, before God, only one eternal present mo- 
ment "now". God's attribute of eternity necessarily 
follows from his necessity. If it is absolutely neces- 
sary for God to be, and if it is, as we have seen, then 
he must be eternal, as Isaias says : "God dwells in eter- 



god's attributes, heart ace 109 

nity" (57, 15.) God's eternity is the only real eter- 
nity. It is good for us, that it is so ; for from it we 
know, that our happiness in heaven will be an eternal 
one, if we only so live, that we will go to heaven. To 
do so it is necessary to keep the commandments of God 
and the precepts of his holy Catholic Church. 

3. God's independence. What does that mean? It 
means, that God is not dependent upon anyone, or any- 
thing, either for his existence, or for his operations. 
Heaven and earth and all beings and all things in them 
are dependent upon Almighty God for their existence, 
for they would not be, if he had not created them, and 
they are dependent upon him for their operations, for 
they would not continue to exist, if he did not contin- 
ually uphold them; God, how r ever, would continue to 
exist and operate, if there were no other being, or 
thing. He needs no one ; but we need him. He does 
not need our service ; but we need to serve him, be- 
cause our happiness both in this life and in the next is 
dependent upon his pleasure. 

4. God's infinity. What does that mean? It 
means, that God is unrestricted and unbounded in all 
his numberless attributes. All beings and things out- 
side of God are limited in their qualities. Whatever 
good they have, they have from the infinite God. 
Therefore, give God thanks and the honor for all,, that 
you are and have. 

5. God's unchangeableness. What does that mean ? 
It means, that God remains eternally the same 1) in 
his nature, 2) in his attributes, 3) in his decrees. He 
cannot change, for, if he did, he would become either 
better, or worse. He cannot become better, for he is , 
infinite perfection ; he cannot become less, for, if he 
did, he would cease to be God. "The heavens will all 



110 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

change like a garment; God alone will remain." (Ps. 
101, 28.) Men are changeable in everything. There- 
fore, do not place your trust for eternity in them, but 
in the unchangeable God. We all know the fact so 
well, that everything in this world is transitory; yet, 
we all need to be reminded of it from time to time. 
From the feeble butterfly, that lives for a few days 
only to man, the noblest work of God's visible crea- 
tion, all are doomed to decay and death. The grand- 
est achievements of men and the inventions of an hour 
are all subject to the same law of change. States and 
nations, kingdoms and republics, are but temporal and 
changeable. They, like man, have their birth, youth, 
old age and death. In this world nothing is lasting. 
God alone is necessary. God alone is eternal. God 
alone is independent. God alone is infinite. God 
alone is unchangeable. The ace of hearts reminds us 
of it all. The Bible tells it all. The Catholic Church 
teaches it all. Do you believe it all? If so, you are in 
so far a Catholic. 

II. From God's creations five other of his attrib- 
utes are knowable. 

1. God's omnipotence. What does that mean? It 
means, that God can do all what he wills, and in order 
to do something, he only needs to will it. God's omni- 
potence does not consist in doing things, that foolish 
creatures imagine he might, or ought to do. He can- 
not sin, because he does not will it. He does not will 
it, because it is an imperfection, and God is infinitely 
perfect, and to sin, would be against his holiness. He 
cannot make a saint out of a hardened sinner, because 
that would be against his justice. He would have to 
first take away man's free-will, and, if he took man's 
free-will away, man would not be man any more, but 



god's attributes, heart ace 111 

something else. He cannot make an angel out of the 
devil for the same reason. Creatures cannot do every- 
thing what they will and, in order to do something, 
they need time, material and instruments. God needs 
nothing of all that. Think, of what God created in 
heaven, on this earth and countless millions of worlds 
outside of it, and what wonderful things he did, as 
you read in Part II. and man's littleness appears, and 
all the power men have, they have, because God wills, 
or permits it. Yet, proud men boast of their power 
and abuse it by transgressing God's holy law. 

God is all-powerful ; therefore, serve him in holy 
love and fear. For he can and will reward you for all 
good and punish you for all unrepented evil. "With 
God nothing shall be impossible. " (Luc. I, 37.) 
Hence, never despair. God can and will help you. 
Ask him with confidence. 

2. God's omnipresence. What does that mean ? It 
means, that God is present everywhere 1 ) all the time, 
2) truly, 3) without extension and 4) at the same 
time. Think of all the countless millions of creatures 
in heaven and in the entire universe. There has never 
been a thought, nor desire, nor intention, nor a word 
spoken, nor an action performed, at which God was 
not present. This is true of all yours, too. "God's 
eyes are in every place." (Prov. 15, 3.) How is God 
present everywhere ? In similar manner, as the human 
soul is present in the body. The whole soul is in the 
whole body and wholly, also, in every part of the body. 
That is the reason, why we are responsible for every 
act, that any part of the body does. Thus God is 
wholly present in a given place and, also, wholly pres- 
ent outside of that place and in every other place. 
That means that God is not circumscribed by any 



112 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

place, for he is unlimited in everything. Hence, never 
forget, that God is present everywhere and hears and 
sees all you do, and his angels record it. 

3. God's omniscience. What does that mean ? It 
means, that God knows all, the past, the present, and 
the future, also, your most secret thoughts and actions. 
"God sees every thing."- (Job 28, 24.) Think of all 
God's creatures in heaven, on earth, in the entire uni- 
verse. He knows all, what they have thought, wished, 
intended, said, done. The same is true of their pres- 
ent and future thoughts, wishes, intentions, words, 
actions. 

OBJECTION SOLVED. Some say : "God knows, 
whether I will be saved, or damned. What is the use 
of trying to be good ?" It is true, God knows it ; but 
his knowing it, is not the cause of it. Because you 
make a good or bad use of your free-will, he foresees 
it; but you do not do, what you do, because he fore- 
sees. God's knowledge does not take away your free- 
will, by which, with God's grace, you can always do the 
right and avoid the evil and, consequently, decide your 
own future. 

Proud men boast of their knowledge. But, oh ! 
what is it in comparison to God's knowledge? But it 
helps us little to know, that God is omniscient. It helps 
us more to so live, that God will know only good of us. 

4. God is all-wise. What does that mean? It 
means, that God does everything, what he does 1) 
most perfectly well, 2) with the best intention and 3) 
with the most proper means. All that means, that for 
that purpose, for which God does something, it cannot 
be done better. This cannot be said of the works of 
men. This does not mean, that God cannot create a 
better world; but that one would be for a different 



OBJECTIONS TO GOD. HEART ACE 113 

purpose. After every great creative act, as we have 
seen in Part II, Chapter I, the Bible says : "And God 
saw, that it was good." (I. Mos. i, 26.) It is good 
for us, that God is all-wise ; for from it we know, that 
whatever he does, is done well and will be for our 
best, whether we see it in that light, or not. He leads 
man through cross to crown. Examples are, the Egyp- 
tian Joseph and Susanna. (P. 46, 79.) 

5. God is all-good. What does that mean? It 
means, that God bestows benefits, gifts and graces 
upon all his creatures and upon all men in particular 
with the greatest loving kindness. This cannot always 
be said of men. Think of all the good God did for 
man to save them, as we have seen in Part II. All, 
what men have and are, you, too, they have and are, 
because God is all good. 

OBJECTIONS SOLVED. 1. "If God is most 
good, how can he eternally damn some?" This is no 
objection against his goodness. On the contrary, God 
would not be all-good, if he did not do so. Why? 
They are principally condemned on account of their 
sins toward their fellowmen. God would be guilty of 
injustice, if he rewarded the reprobates, who have no 
true love for him, nor for others, in the same manner, 
as the good and true. 

2. "God often permits the good to suffer and the 
wicked to prosper/' The Bible says : "God punishes 
him, whom he loves." (Prov. 3, 12.) Hence, God 
inflicts or permits punishment in the same manner, as 
the surgeon hurts in cutting wounds, in order to heal 
them, and in the same manner, as we melt gold in the 
fire, in order to make it better, in order to prepare us 
for something far better and higher. On the other 
hand, who knows truthfully, whether they, who suffer, 



114 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

are good? Men deceive both themselves and others. 
We cannot judge from appearance. It is not for us to 
judge at all, neither ourselves nor others. When God 
permits the wicked to prosper, it is a bad sign for 
them. No one is so wicked, that he has not done some- 
thing good at some time. This God must reward, for 
he is just. In heaven they want no reward : in hell they 
get none. Therefore, God rewards them in this life. 
Why God does this or that, is not for us to judge, nor 
is God accountable to us. We know, that God is all 
good, and that, what he does is done for our best, and 
our duty is to imitate his goodness and to thank him 
for everything, as Saint Paul says: "Always thank 
God, the Father, for everything in the name of Jesus 
Christ. " (Ephes. 5, 20.) Do you believe, that God 
is almighty, omnipresent, all-wise, all-just, and all- 
good? If so, you are in so far a Catholic. 

III. From God's creation of man in particular, 
five more attributes of God are knowable. 

1. God is all-holy. What does that mean? It 
means, that God loves and wills the good and hates evil 
in the highest degree. This unfortunately cannot al- 
ways be said of men. God is infinitely holy and wishes 
us to become holy, in order to enjoy his holiness with 
him in heaven. That is the reason, why he says : "Be 
ye holy, as I am holy." (III. Mos. 19, 2.) For that 
reason he gave us his ten commandments; for their 
observation will lead to holiness in heaven, and for the 
same reason he hates their transgressions, because they 
lead away from him who is infinitely holy. 

QUESTION ANSWERED. "Can anyone come 
into such a state of holiness in this life, that he cannot 
sin any more and is, consequently, sure of eternal 
salvation?" That is both contrary to reason and the 



OBJECTIONS TO GOD. HEART ACE 115 

Bible. Reason tells every one, and every one is con- 
scious of the fact, that, no matter, how good one may 
be, he still can sin, and, consequently, there is no con- 
firmation in holiness. The Bible says plainly the same 
thing: "Let him, that standeth, take heed, lest he fall." 
(i. Cor. 10, 12.) Those, who proclaim such nonsense 
against reason and the Bible deceive themselves, for, 
"if we say, we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and 
the truth is not in us." (Jo. i, 8.) If it were true, 
that they have no mpre battles to fight against evil 
temptations, their reward would be very small, indeed, 
and, consequently, that kind of state of holiness would 
be nothing to boast of, but something to be ashamed 
of; for it would be a sign, that God knew, that they 
were so weak, that they would fall, if they were 
tempted, and that they were no longer fit for actual 
service beneath his flag of the cross. But there is noth- 
ing to such a false claim of self-given holiness. Some 
of the highest angels fell from heaven, and, unless such 
self-styled "holy people" are very careful, they will 
fall, where those angels fell. 

2. God is all-just. What does that mean? It 
means, that God rewards the good and punishes the 
evil just so, as they deserve, if not in this life, then in 
the next. "God will reward every one according to his 
works." (Rom. 2, 6.) 

OBJECTION SOLVED. "How can God permit 
so much evil in this world, if he is infinitely just?" 
This life is not the end of man, and, consequently, full 
retribution does not take place here. This life is short. 
The other one has no end. There, in eternity, God 
will deal out full justice. Recall to mind Lazarus and 
the rich man, Dives. In this life Dives had everything 
and despised the poor man Lazarus. But in the other 



116 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

life conditions were changed about. "Envy not the 
glory of a sinner, for thou knowest not his end." (Ecc. 
9, ii.) Sin not on God's mercy, for his justice might 
overtake you. Boast not of the good, you have done, 
nor do it, because men see it. For God will remember 
it all and reward all. Lay up great stores of good 
works, something every day, for your reward will be 
in eternity. 

3. God is most merciful and forbearing. What 
does that mean? i) God is most merciful, means that 
God forgives gladly and fully all truly penitent sin- 
ners. Men do not always forgive that way. God is 
more willing to forgive, than men are willing to ask 
his forgiveness. He says : "I do not want the death 
of the sinner, but that he be converted and live" (2. 
Pet. 3, 9.) ; "all day long I spread out my hands over a 
people walking upon ways not good" (Is. 65, 2.) ; "if 
the sinner does penance, he shall live" (Ezic. 18, 21.) 
Great examples of God's mercy are Mary Magdalene, 
the woman at Jacob's well, the adulteress in the temple, 
Saint Peter, the thief on the cross, Saint Paul, and all 
exemplified in the story of the prodigal son. 

2) God is most forbearing means, that he often, but 
not always, waits a long time for the sinner to come 
back. 

Forgive injuries, as you wish God to forgive you, as 
you pray in the Lord's prayer : "Forgive us our tres- 
passes, as we forgive them, who trespass against us." 
But do not heap sin on sin. The Bible records 
only one true conversion and forgiveness from God in 
the last moment in the penitent thief on the cross, to 
show you not to depend on that last moment, and all 
the others recorded in the Bible remained faithful 
after the first forgiveness by God; 



god's attributes, heart ace 117 

4. God is all truthful and faithful. What does 
that mean? i) God is most truthful means, that he 
always reveals the purest truth, for he cannot err, nor 
tell a lie. This cannot always be said of men. That 
men should follow God in this quality, he gave a spe- 
cial commandment: "Thou shalt not bear false wit- 
ness." 2) God is most faithful means, that he invari- 
ably keeps his promises and fulfills his threats. There- 
fore, keep his commandments, for he promises reward 
for observing them and threatens punishment for their 
violation. Firmly hope for his promised reward, but 
fear also his punishment. 

5. God is most blessed and glorious. What does 
that mean? 1) God is most blessed means, that he is 
unchangeably happy and perfectly satisfied. Some 
men are never satisfied and they usually blame their 
dissatisfaction on some one else. Seek to be always 
in the grace and friendship of God and you will expe- 
rience a little of his happiness in this life and an abun- 
dance of it in the next. 

2) God is most glorious means, that he lives in end- 
less glory and in inconceivable- splendor. The vain 
rich boast of their splendor, but oh ! what is theirs in 
comparison to God's? Not even the flash of a match 
to the glory of the noonday sun. Serve God faithfully 
and you will share in his glory forever. 

Thus you have briefly been instructed in the five 
attributes of God knowable from the creation of man, 
because something of them is found in man, who is 
created according to God's own image and likeness. 
Those fifteen attributes of God are wonderful quali- 
ties. They are worthy of our serious study. Every- 
thing that was said of God's existence at the end of 
Chapter II. can be said of every one of them. Do you 



118 



CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 



believe all, what the Catholic Church teaches on them ? 
If so, you are in so far a Catholic. The ace of hearts 
reminds you of it all. 

CHAPTER V. 



The Most Holy Trinity. 

We have thus far seen in the instruction of the first 
article of the Apostle's Creed, who God is, and what 
he is. We will now consider, how he is constituted in 

his own divine nature. The 
teaching of the Catholic 
Church is : God is one in 
nature, called the Unity of 
God, of which the ace of 
hearts reminds us, triune, 
however, in person, called 
the Trinity of God, of 
which the three of hearts 
reminds us. The three 
persons in God are: The 
Father and the Son and 
the Holy Ghost, of whom 
the three of hearts re- 
minds us. This is one of 
those truths of our holy 
religion, which we call 
mysteries of religion. We cannot reason it out; but 
we know it to be true, because God has revealed it. 
What, then, does the Bible say on this truth : 
I. From the Old Testament : 

i. The plurality of persons God plainly indicated 
at the creation of man, saying: "Let US make man 
according to OUR image and likeness." (I. Mos. I, 
26.) 




HOW IS GOD? HEART THREE 119 

2. The number three of the divine persons is, also, 
indicated : "God appeared to Abraham ; he saw 
three ;" but he adored in them only one God. (I. Mos. 
18, i.) 

3. The prophet Isaias (48, 16.) names three: "God, 
the Lord, and his Spirit sent me." These three proofs 
are sufficient from the Old Testament. Now three 
proofs from the 

II. New Testament: 

1. The archangel Gabriel said to the Blessed Vir- 
gin Mary: "Thou wilt conceive and bring forth a 
Son ; he shall be called the Son of the Most High ; that 
this may occur. The Holy Ghost shall come over 
thee." (Luk. 1, 31.) : three: The Most High, the Son 
and the Holy Spirit. 

2. "When Jesus was baptized, he saw the Spirit of 
God come upon him in the form of a dove and a voice 
from heaven said: "This is my beloved Son." (Mt. 
3, 16.): three: The Father talking, the Son being 
baptized, and the Spirit of God hovering over him. 

3. Before Jesus ascended into heaven, he com- 
manded the apostles to go into the world and preach 
his gospel and to baptize those, who would believe, "In 
the name of the Father and of the Son and of the 
Holy Ghost." (Mt. 28, 19.) Human language can- 
not express this mystery plainer : "Baptize in one 
name, not names, and in three divine persons." Con- 
sequently, nothing is taught clearer in the Bible, than 
this great truth, that there is only one God in three 
divine persons and three divine persons in one God. 
The ace of hearts and the three of hearts remind you 
of it. Do you believe this great, all important truth, 
as the Catholic Church teaches it in harmony with the 
Bible ? If so, you are in so far a Catholic. 



120 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

CHAPTER VI. 



Distinction of the Three Divjne Persons. Three of 

Hearts. 

i. The nature of a thing, of a being, is what makes 
it, what it is and what distinguishes it from all other 
beings. The nature of God is what makes God, God. 
All three divine persons in God have one and the same 
divine nature. That is the reason why they are not 
three gods, but only one and the same God. The 
Bible clearly teaches this great mysterious truth: 
"There are three, who give testimony in heaven : The 
Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit, and these three 
are ONE." (I. Jo. 5, 7.) 

2. The three are one, because they have in com- 
mon all the same divine attributes which are essential 
to the divine nature, as they have been enumerated and 
explained in Chapter IV. Every one of those great 
and beautiful things, which are said of God, can here 
with equal truth be repeated and said singly of the 
Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost. See, whether 
you can recall all those fifteen attributes in this man- 
ner: As the Father is absolutely necessary, so the 
Son is absolutely necessary, so the Holy Ghost is abso- 
lutely necessary; yet there are not three absolutely 
necessary, but only one absolutely necessary. Conse- 
quently, what the Father is, that the Son is, and w T hat 
the Father is and the Son is, that the Holy Ghost is. 
Repeat that through all the fifteen attributes of God 
and you have the doctrine on the Most Holy Trinity 
correct. 

3. Since the three divine persons are all perfectly 
alike in nature and qualities, wherein lies the distinc- 
tion? There are three distinctions to distinguish the 



HOW IS GOD? HEART THREE 121 

three: i) The Father is the first person, not the sec- 
ond, nor the third. The Son is the second person, not 
the first, nor the third. The Holy Ghost is the third 
person, not the first nor the second. This numerical 
order cannot be reversed, nor enterchanged. The 
Father has the source of divine life in and from him- 
self from all eternity; he is neither generated, nor 
proceeding. The Father has generated the Son from 
all eternity. The comparison between a human father 
and son and the divine Father and Son cannot be made 
here. For a human father must himself have been a 
son first, before he can become a father, and after he 
has become a father, he can, also, continue to exist 
without the son. God, the Father, however, never has 
been the Son, nor has he ever existed without the Son, 
nor will he ever exist without him. 

2) The second person, the Son, has been generated 
by the Father from all eternity. He has the source of 
divine life not in and from himself, but in and from 
the first person, the Father. That is the reason, why he 
is called Son. But this generation of the Son by the 
Father is from all eternity, without beginning, be- 
cause God is Father from all eternity, and, therefore, 
the Son must be from all eternity, too. 

3) The third person, the Holy Ghost, proceeds 
from the Father and the Son from all eternity. This 
is clear from the Bible: "The Spirit of your Father 
speaks." (Mt. 10, 20.) "God sent the Spirit of his 
Son." (Gal. 4, 6.) Consequently, the third person is 
the Spirit of the Father and of the Son. Yet, there 
are no three holy spirits, as there are, also, no three 
fathers, nor three sons. 

4. As incomprehensible, as is this revealed truth, 
that God is one in nature, triune, however, in person, 



122 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

God has, nevertheless, left many an impress of this 
adorable mystery in his great works. Though all com- 
parisons limp a little, yet, the following ten are strik- 
ing: Ten, one for each of the ten-spot card of hearts : 
i ) God's great works can be reduced to three : i ) 
The creation, 2) the redemption, 3) the sanctification ; 
and, though we sometimes say: The Father is the 
Creator, the Son, the Redeemer, and has thereby given 
us the right to call God "Father", that is the reason, 
why he is, also, our "Father" ; and the Holy Ghost, the 
Sanctifier. All three persons, nevertheless, as one God 
have these works ascribed to them, as one God. 

2) In our one sun are three distinct things: 1) 
light itself, 2) rays of light, generated from the sun, 
3) warmth, which proceeds from the light and the 
rays; three in one and one in three. The light may 
represent the Father, the rays the Son, and the warmth 
the Holy Spirit. 

3) We are created according to God's image and 
likeness; that is another reason, why we call him 
"Father" ; we have only one soul. It is not only a like- 
ness of God in its immortality, but of all the three 
divine persons. For in it are three distinct things : 1 ) 
reason, representing the Father and which generates 
2) thought, representing the Son, and 3) love, repre- 
senting the Holy Ghost, which proceeds from both the 
reason and the thought. Three in one. 

4) Time is one in essence and yet, we speak of it 
in a threefold sense; 1) present, 2) past, 3) future. 
Three in one. 

5) Water is one in nature, yet threefold in appear- 
ance: 1) flowing, liquid, 2) frozen, ice, 3) evaporat- 
ing, steam. All three in one nature, yet distinct. 



god's works, creation 123 

6) There are three places in the other world: i) 
heaven, 2) purgatory, 3) hell. 

7) Three make up the one "Holy Family" : 1) 
Jesus, 2) Mary, 3) Joseph. Three distinct persons, 
yet only one family. 

8 One finger has three joints. The}' are all alike 
joints and, yet, all three distinct in one finger. 

9) There are three spots on the three of hearts. 
All distinct and yet constituting only one card. 

10) A clover leaf has three in one and one in three. 
5. This mystery of the Unity and Trinity of God 

is not nonsense, nor is it contrary to reason; it is only 
above reason. We believe it, because God has re- 
vealed it, as is very clear in the Bible. Consequently, 
we must believe it. We have no choice. Do you be- 
lieve all this ? If so, then you are in so far a Catholic. 
The three of hearts reminds you of it all. 

CHAPTER VII. 



Creation of the World. 

What is the teaching of the Catholic Church con- 
cerning the creation of the world? This: God has 
created, produced out of nothing, all invisible and vis- 
ible creatures, by an act of his will in time for his own 
glory. We will divide this subject into three parts: 
1) The teaching of the Catholic Church on the crea- 
tion; 2) the history of creation; 3) the principal crea- 
tures of it, that is, angels and men. (Part II, Chapter 

I. Teachings of the Catholic Church on Creation. 

1. The origin of the world has always been a sub- 
ject of serious study. But the more scientists sepa- 
rated themselves in their studies from what the Bible 



124 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

says on it, the further they wandered from the truth. 
Some have claimed, without proof, of course, that the 
world is eternal. This cannot be. For any thing, that 
is eternal, has neither beginning, nor end, and, conse- 
quently, no change. Now, it is evident, that the world 
and everything in it change continually. Therefore, it 
is not eternal. If it is not eternal, it must have been 
produced by an eternal cause, and that cause is God. 
Hence, reason tells us, what the Bible says, that the 
world is not eternal. "Before the earth was made, 
thou art, O God, from eternity to eternity." (Ps. 80, 
2.) "In the beginning God created heaven and earth." 
(I. Mos. 1, 1.) That God created the world, is the 
very first truth laid down in the Bible. "In the begin- 
ning" of what ? In the beginning of time. Time began 
with the visible creation, for in eternity there is no 
time. God did not create the world before time nor 
after time ; for time consists in the change of things. 
If there were no change, there would be no time. 

2. Why did God create the world? You have the 
answer in the ace of hearts, which says: "God is 
love." (I. Jo. 4, 16.), and out of pure love he created 
the world, so that his creatures might participate in 
his glory and happiness. Everything, that was said 
at the end of Chapter II, I, of God's existence and at 
the end of Chapter IV, on the fifteen attributes of God, 
can be said with equal truthfulness of God's love. 

3. Out of what did God create heaven and earth 
and all creatures therein? Out of nothing; for there 
was nothing in existence to make anything out of. It 
is incorrect to say : God made the world ; for we men 
can make some things, too, that is, change the appear- 
ance of material, but we always need material and in- 
struments to make something. God created, that is, 



OBJECTIONS TO CREATION 125 

produced something out of nothing. The Catholic 
Church does not teach, nor does the Bible say so, that 
God created the world in one moment and placed it in 
its present condition ; but that he could have done so, 
if he willed. God likely did create only the essence 
of matter and then the laws of evolution and then 
upheld those laws. The Catholic Church leaves those 
things to pious, God-fearing, scientists. That is out of 
her domain of doctrine. 

OBJECTION SOLVED. "Out of nothing, noth- 
ing can come." True, in reference to man, but not to 
God. God's all-powerful will is the instrument by 
which he not only makes something, but creates the 
material itself. The Bible says: That God produced 
the invisible and visible. (Jo. I, 3.) 

4. For what purpose did God create the world? 
Man does everything with some intention. God does 
everything with the very best intention. He himself 
is the very best and holiest and most deserving. Con- 
sequently, he had to consider himself in the creation. 
He created the world for his own glory. The Bible 
teaches it: "The Lord created everything for his own 
sake." (Prov. 16, 4.) Every child should be the 
glory of its father. We are all God's children. There- 
fore, we are for his glory. The work should be for 
the glory of the maker. God is the Maker of all things. 
Therefore, all are made for his glory. Hence, appears 
the sinfulness of misusing anything, or any creature, 
for offending God. 

5. The secondary object of this world and all 
things in it is, that it is for man's use and benefits, not 
for abuse, nor for injustice to others, nor for offending 
God, but to use it for our needs, our fellowman's ben- 



126 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

efits and according to the intention of God for God's 
glory. 

II. History of Creation. "In the beginning God 
created heaven and earth." (I. Mos. I, i.) Both are 
represented by the two of hearts, because they are 
works of God's love. This does not say, that God cre- 
ated heaven and earth in immediate succession and 
without any intermission. There may have been 
countless millions of years and periods of time be- 
tween them. 

i. What was that heaven? It is not the firma- 
ment, the starry heavens, the aerial blue dome above 
us ; but it is the invisible, the spirit world, the home of 
the angels and everything in it, where we hope, 
through God's mercy, to enjoy him forever. 

2. What was that earth, which God created in the 
beginning? It was not this earth, as it is now, but the 
entire visible world only in its elementary constituents, 
likely only the molecules of matter, and then he created 
the laws of evolution of matter and other laws of na- 
ture and kept and keeps them in force ; so that God is 
not only truly the original Cause, the Creator, but, also, 
the real Author of the visible universe, world, this 
earth, in its present condition. Consequently, the 
Bible contains nothing on creation, that is contrary to 
the acknowledged fact of evolution of matter. The 
two of hearts reminds us of the two worlds, which 
God created in the beginning. 

III. The six days of creation, of which the six of 
hearts reminds us._ 

The Bible does not only say, that in the beginning 
God created heaven and earth, but, also, that he did so 
in six days. Infidel scientists ridicule this idea, claim- 
ing to know, that the facts of science are against it, 



CREATION-DAYS. HEART SIX 



127 



But their ridicule falls back on themselves, for the 
Bible does not say, that they were six days of twenty- 
four hours each. The Hebrew, the first language in 
which the old Testament 
Bible was written, uses 
the word "yom", which 
means day and, also, any 
indefinite period of time. 
The latter is obviously the 
meaning in the Bible con- 
cerning the six days of 
creation, for there were no 
days of twenty- four hours 
each, could not be, at the 
beginning, until the earth 
came into its present po- 
sition and revolved around 
its axis and around the 
sun. The Bible perfectly 
harmonizes with all the 
known facts of science concerning evolution. Those 
six days were creation-days, not days of twenty-four 
hours each, but long, indefinite, periods of time, com- 
prising many millions of years each. 

In Part II. Chapter I. we have seen, that on the 
ist. day God created light. What does this mean? 
It means that God created the essence, the substance of 
light, that matter of which light consists. It does not 
mean, that in this first period of creation, light was 
already shining. The essence of light and the shining, 
the rays, of light, are two different things : light is the 
cause, and the rays are the effects of motion. The 
Bible says, also, "there was darkness on the face of the 
deep." Darkness in itself is no substance; it is only 



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128 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

the absence of light. It is not something created. 
That is the reason, why the Bible says, "there was 
darkness. " It does not say, God created darkness. 
This first period of creation may comprise 40,000,000 
years. That is the way to read the Bible with under- 
standing. On the 

2nd. day God formed the firmament, the air space, 
the air, from the primitive matter, which he had cre- 
ated in the beginning. He caused water to separate 
from waters. He did this through the substance of 
light, which he had created in the first period of crea- 
tion. The light caused heat of such intensity, that 
everything was caused to come into a molten shape, 
and the heat caused evaporation of water, forming the 
air, forming the atmosphere, which is so thin and 
transparent, that on a clear day it looks blue. The 
second period of creation may have lasted 20,000,000 
years. On the 

3rd. day God separated w r ater from the land. In the 
second period of creation God had separated some 
water from water, but the earth, the dirt, the land, was 
still all mixed with water and heated to such intensity 
by light, so that nothing could grow on it, and neither 
man nor animal could live on it. But in the third great 
period of creation, God gathered the waters into 
oceans, seas, lakes, and caused fountains and rivers to 
flow. Great convulsions took place during this period, 
and the earth with its hills, valleys, plains and moun- 
tains was formed, and precious metals, such as silver, 
gold, diamonds, were produced, and the earth was 
placed pretty much in its present condition. This third 
period of creation may have lasted 30,000,000 years. 
But the earth was still bare, naked ; therefore, toward 
the end of this period God commanded the earth to 



OBJECTIONS TO BIBLE 129 

bring forth plants, fruits and productions for men and 
animals to subsist upon. This period may include 
10,000,000 years. 

OBJECTION SOLVED. "What the Bible says 
here, is nonsense; for plants cannot grow without 
light, and there was no light shining yet in this period, 
for there was no sun yet." The objection is good for 
nothing ; for plants, to start to grow need i ) moisture, 
2) warmth, 3) air. All three were present at this time. 
All life begins in the dark. The rays of the sun are 
injurious to germination. The sunlight, to develop 
and mature plants, came in due time. Again! It is 
wrong to imagine, that those periods of creation had 
clean cut limits, sudden beginnings and endings, as 
the stroke of the clock marks the end of one hour and 
the beginning of another. They ran into each other 
for millions of years. On the 

4th. day God created the sun, the moon, planets, and 
the countless stars. The primitive matter, of which 
they are composed God had created in the beginning; 
but they were not yet arranged to produce rays of 
light. This period may have lasted 20,000,000 years. 
A part of the previous period and the greatest part of 
this period were very favorable for plant life ; for the 
air was saturated with carbon, too much so for animal 
and human life. Oh, what wonders those heavenly 
bodies are, all proclaiming God, as their Creator! 
Without the sun no rays of light. Without the sun no 
plants. Without the sun no animal, no man. All heat 
came and comes from the sun. All the heat stored 
away in the wood, coal, oil, electricity, came from the 
sun and is only stored away in those other materials. 
The sun is 95,000,000 miles away from us, yet its heat 
is so great, that, if we came within one million miles 



130 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

of it, it would consume us in a moment. It is 1,259,712 
times larger, than our earth. It moves 3,000,000 miles 
through space every day. Yet, there are greater 
things, than these. There are 120,000,000 of other 
suns beyond the reach of our naked eye, thousands of 
times greater than our sun, and are surrounded by 
worlds of stars, thousands of times greater, than our 
sun. The human mind stands still in amazement at 
the contemplation of such stupendous wonders. How 
great must He be, who has created and preserves all! 
No wonder the Bible says : "And God saw, that it was 
good/' what he had done.. No wonder a special star 
announced God's appearance on earth for its Redeem- 
er. No wonder the sun sighed, mourned, shed tears, 
at the death of God, Jesus, on Mount Calvary. No 
wonder, the stars will fall from heaven, when their 
Creator will decide to destroy this earth on account of 
the sins of men, and help God to destroy every vestige 
of sin, by which men have offended their Creator, 
whom the starry worlds ceaselessly praise. That is 
the way to read the Bible with profit. On the 

5th. day God created the fishes, all animals, that live 
in water, and the birds, animals, that live in the air, for 
both water and air had during the preceding period 
become purified and rarified for such animals to live 
therein. This period, also, comprises millions of 
years. Who will estimate the countless billions of 
fishes and birds of this period to the present and to the 
end of time, all praising God, as their Creator, from 
the tiniest living monad, that must be magnified one 
thousand times to be seen, to the monsters of the air 
and of the deep, that grew to lengths of hundreds of 
feet ? No wonder the fertile soil of the great Missis- 
sippi valley, which for millions of ages was one vast 



CREATION -DAYS. HEART SIX 131 

ocean, is the deposit and decay of animals and plants. 
Oh, this is a wonderful world! Behold, how those 
kinds of animals, which God created in this period, 
serve him : I ) Jesus showed his divine power in the 
great catch of fishes ; 2) out of the mouth of a fish he 
let the money be taken to pay tax for himself and his 
apostles; 3) he miraculously increased a few fishes to 
feed the multitudes; 4) he ate fish after his resurrec- 
tion, to prove he was arisen; 5) a dove brought Noe 
the olive branch; 6) doves were offered for the new 
born Savior in the temple by his mother; 7) the Holy 
Ghost descended in the form of a dove at the baptism 
of Christ. How wonderful must that God be, who 
created all ! Let us so live., that we will come to him 
and understand all these wonders. On the 

6th. day God created the animals, that live on land, 
for during the preceding period of many millions of 
years the earth had become covered with nutritious 
plants for all animals to subsist upon. The air had 
become so fully charged with pure oxygen, which is 
the principal constituent for animals and men to sub- 
sist upon, that animals grew to an incredible size, even 
to hundreds of feet. This period, too, may have in- 
cluded millions of years. Look at the world again 
now, after these great six days of creation! At the 
beginning it was void and empty and dark. Now the 
light by day and night. The fish play in the waters, 
the birds sing in the air, animals rejoice upon land, the 
earth is green, the air is filled with perfume of flowers. 
There are plants, fruits and trees. Day and night and 
seasons interchange. The heavenlv bodies all have 
their place and route in the universe. All works to- 
gether like a clock. God has not only created the 
world, but he, also, preserves it, as he wills, and as long, 



132 



CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 



as he wills. He permits changes in the bodies, that are 
in the firmament, in the sun, the planets, the stars, 
meteors and comets. He permits changes on this earth, 
in its plants and animals. When once he wills, that the 
world should come to an end, it will be destroyed. It 
would fall back into nothingness, if he did not contin- 
ually uphold it. That is precisely, what is understood 
by divine Providence. What a grandeur! Man can 
make nothing like it. Everything is complete. Only 
one creature is wanting, and that is man, whom God 
now created according to his own image and likeness 
and made him the masterpiece of the visible creation. 
The silly notion, which some false scientists have 
not been ashamed to proclaim, that man was evolved 

from the monkey, has 
been exploded long ago. 
No scientist of the present 
day will maintain it; for 
there is absolutely nothing 
to substantiate it. Those, 
who still wish to maintain, 
that man is a descendant 
of the monkey, may do so 
for themselves. Do you 
believe all this, of which 
the six of hearts reminds 
you? If so, you are in so 
far a Catholic. 

IV. The seventh day, 
the day of rest, the Sab- 
bath is (Part II, Chapter I.) represented by the seven 
of hearts. In the beginning God created heaven and 
earth. Out of that primitive earth he later, in the six 




SABBATH. HEART SEVEN AND FOUR 



133 



great multi-million-year-periods, created the universe 
in its present condition. He created a spirit world 
and a world of nature. The connecting link between 
the two was man, who is spirit* in his soul, visible 
nature in his body. With man God's creation ended. 
Hence, he rested from creating, not from activity. 
Those six great creating days were no days of twenty- 
four hours each. They could not be; nor was that 
great seventh day a day of twenty- four hours ; nor has 
that seventh great period, God's rest period from cre- 
ating, ended. We are in it now. That is the reason, 
why the Bible calls it the Sabbath, rest-day, "Yom", 
rest-period of the Lord from creating anything new, 
not the rest-day of man; nor did God here, at this 
time, command man to 
keep it holy. The Bible 
says, that "God completed 
his work on the seventh 
day," in the seventh creat- 
ing period. Consequently, 
God did something on that 
seventh day and is doing 
something during this 
great rest-period. What 
did he do? Four things, 
of which the four of 
hearts reminds us : 

i. God looked over all 
his works once more and 
approved them as a whole. 
He had done so after each 
great period of creation : "And God saw, that it was 
good." But on the seventh day: "God saw every- 
thing, what he had made, and it was very good." 




134 



CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 



(I. Mos. i, 31.) A builder, a maker of any thing, does 
the same thing. 

2. God blessed his creation. He had bestowed his 
blessing upon the animals and men at their creation; 
but that blessing was principally for their propagation. 
This great blessing on the seventh day is still continu- 
ing during this seventh period of time. It was that 
great universal blessing by which God dedicated, sanc- 
tified every thing, both animate and inanimate Crea- 
tures, for that great object of the creation, namely, to 
be that and to do that, for which he had designed each 
and all for his own glory. Hence, the wickedness to 
use them for any other purpose. Take heed, lest you 
miss your object of creation! 

3. . God desisted from 
creating any thing fur- 
ther. That is the meaning 
of God's resting, not that 
he did not do any thing 
any more. No new crea- 
tures have been created 
since. When new forms 
of plants and animals ap- 
pear, they are no new 
creatures, but only compo- 
sitions of different forms 
already in existence. 

4. This great day, pe- 
riod, of rest, God, also, 
made the foundation for 
instituting later on the 
Sabbath day for man; but he, also, ordered men to 
work six days in the week, not to loaf, not to spend 
fhe time in idleness. 




AXGELS. DIAMOND TWO 135 

Do you believe all this, as the Bible and the Catholic 
Church teaches it? If so, you are in so far a Catholic. 

CHAPTER VIII. 



God's Highest Creatures. Angels. Men. 

After we have learned to know the history of the 
creation from the Bible and the teachings of the Catho- 
lic Church on creation and have been induced to ad- 
mire and adore the omnipotence, wisdom and good- 
ness of the Creator, it is next in order to consider his 
creatures; but it is. impossible to consider them all in 
this book. Hence, we will only briefly consider the 
two principal ones, namely, angels and men, of which 
the two of hearts reminds us, for upon them has God 
chiefly bestowed his love and of which the two of 
diamonds is a symbol; for as diamonds represent the 
most precious material in the inanimate world, thus 
angels and men represent God's most precious crea- 
tures in the living world. 

I. Angels. 

"In the beginning God created heaven." The spirits, 
the inhabitants of that heaven, are called angels. This 
name does not describe their nature, but only their 
office, as servants, messengers to God and man. Lis- 
ten to the teachings of the Catholic Church on this 
subject and you will be induced still more to love and 
praise God's power, wisdom and goodness. 

I. How do we know of the existence of angels ? In 
all the immensity of God's creation there is no chasm, 
but such a transition, that it forms a gradation from 
the lower to the higher, so much so, that there is some- 
thing alike in connecting links of the gradations, and 
yet each retaining its own individuality of species and 



136 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

kind. The infinite distance between man and God lets 
us reasonably conclude, that there are creatures be- 
tween man and God, much more perfect, than man. 
There are 300 spots on the spot-cards in a card-deck, 
and the Bible mentions angels 300 times. A few ex- 
amples, one for each of the twelve picture cards: 1) 
God commanded angels to take care of Jesus on earth. 
(Ps. 7, 11.) Jesus often spoke of angels. 2) He said, 
they had special charge of innocent children (Mt. 18, 
10.) ; 3) that they will accompany him, when he 
will come to judge the world. (Mt. 25, 31.) Angels 
were frequently sent by God, as messengers to men ; 4) 
Angels led Lot out of the wicked city Sodom; angels 
appeared to 5) Abraham, 6) Jacob, 7) David; an 
angel announced 8) to the Blessed Virgin Mary the 
incarnation of the Son of God ; 9) an angel led Joseph 
with Jesus and Mary away from the snares of Herod 
into Egypt ; 10) an angel assisted our Savior in his 
agony in the garden; 11) an angel rolled away the 
stone on Easter Day from the grave of Christ; 12) 
angels freed Saint Peter out of the hands of Herod, 
as undoubtedly they have protected millions of others 
from harm. 

2. What are angels ? Angels are intellectual, imma- 
terial, immortal, beings, called pure spirits, having rea- 
son and free-will, but no body. God has endowed 
them with extraordinary intelligence, power and 
beauty : 1) The knowledge of the wisest of men cannot 
compare with that of any angel. They have insight 
into secrets of nature, that no man has yet attained. 
But angels do not know everything, only God does. 
2) We should by proper care and continuous exercise 
develop the strength of both body and mind, but the 
strongest of men and the greatest armies and navies 



ANGEL CHOIRS. DIAMOND NINE 



137 



can have nothing to brag about, when their strength 
is measured with that of only one angel. The Bible 
says, that an angel touched the heavy iron shackels of 
Saint Peter, and they fell apart. (Acts 12.) An angel 
killed in one night 185,000 men in the camp of King 
Sennacherib. (Is. yj, 36.) 3) Endless pains are 
taken, fabulous sums of money are spent, much pre- 
cious time is squandered and much foolish praise is 
bestowed on human beauty ; but all human beauty and 
all worldly splendor vanish like the stars before the 
rising sun in comparison with the beauty of angels. 
There is nothing like it on earth. Their brightness is 
greater than our sun. No human eye can endure it. 
They are not only surpassingly beautiful, but, also, 
inexpressibly happy, be- 
cause they constantly en- 
joy God in heaven. They 
are beautiful in nature be- 
yond description ; but over 
and above their natural 
beauty God has most lav- 
ishly enriched them by his 
sanctifying grace, the 
smallest spark of which is 
worth more, than all the 
precious things of this 
world. What wonderful 
creatures the angels are! 
It would seem heaven to 
be in their presence, and it 
is to be part of our en- 
joyment in heaven. But they are only creatures. 
How much more infinitely beautiful must their Creator 
be? 




138 



CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 



4. How many angels are there? This is not 
known, because God has not revealed it. But they are 
countless, for the Bible says, there are thousands upon 
thousands. 

5. Are they all alike? In nature, yes; in qualities 
and office, no ; for in the endless domain of God's crea- 
tion there are no two things or two beings exactly 
alike. The Bible distinguishes nine angel choirs, which 
the nine of diamonds represents. 

Every choir has a distinctive office to perform. 
Those offices are represented by the nine of hearts, 
because they are a work of love. 

1) Guardian angels. They are employed to take 
care of, and to announce things to, individual men. To 

each human being God at 
its creation assigns a guar- 
dian angel, as caretaker, 
guardian and counselor. 
They warn us against 
evils. They admonish us 
to do good. They bring 
our prayers and good 
works to God and record 
them. They protect us 
from much harm. They 
help us fight the devil and 
overcome temptation. 
They assist us at the hour 
of death. They bring our 
soul before the judgment 
seat of God after death. 
They defend our cause, if they can justly do so before 
the judgment seat of God. Hence, our duty is to obey 
them, honor them and ask them daily to take care of us. 




AXGEL CHOIRS. HEART NINE 



139 



2) Archangels bring tidings, which are of great 
importance to the entire human race, as the archangel 
Gabriel announced to the Blessed Virgin Mary, that 
the Savior of the world 
was to be born of her. We 
know of four: Michael, 
meaning, "W h o-is-1 i k e- 
God"; Gabriel, "Strength 
of God" ; Raphael, "Heal- 
ing of God" ; Uriel, "Light 
of God". They are "rep- 
resented by the four of 
diamonds, for they have 
done specially precious 
service to man. 

3) Principalities an- 
nounce things that are of 
importance for the entire 
world, as the consumma- 
tion of the world, and do 
things, that are beyond the natural order, as miracles. 

4) Dominions. According to the designs of the 
Almighty Creator all things and all beings have their 
place and office to fill in his entire creation and thus 
they are expected to always keep occupied and to con- 
tribute to his glory, and the rational beings are to con- 
tribute to their own merit. Thus to the dominion 
angels God has given power 1) to preserve order in 
the universe; 2) to regulate the elements of fire, water, 
air, electricity ; 3) to guide the course of the sun, moon, 
earth, planets and stars and the seasons of the year. 

5) Powers. To them God gives special power 1) 
over the fallen angels, the evil spirits, the devil, and 
2) to protect the holy Catholic Church, his special 




140 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

kingdom on earth, in time of persecution, that she may 
not fail. A single one of them can put to flight a whole 
army of evil spirits. 

6) Dominations. They are endowed with singular 
power to propagate God's honor. They are all aglow 
with desire, that God may always and everywhere 
reign supreme, and that all creatures, inanimate and 
animate, angels and men, may constantly obey God. 

7) Thrones. They are God's assistants at his 
great judgments, as, for instance, in relation to the 
deluge, and their office is to adore God's changeless 
repose. 

8) Cherubim. They are God's councilors. To 
them he makes known his decrees in respect to the 
guidance of the universe, as he sees fit, and they adore 
specially God's wisdom. 

9) Seraphim. They are in constant attendance 
upon God at his throne, as the fountain-head of all 
true power, beauty, goodness, w T isdom and love, and 
they ceaselessly praise and glorify him with the most 
ardent love possible in a creature. What an incentive 
to strive for heaven! Countless millions of angels, 
each one more beautiful and powerful, than any thing 
on this earth, and then God, who made them and all 
what they are.. 

Originally the deck of playing cards consisted of 
fifty-two, good, nice, clean cards. Most games are 
played with fifty-two cards. In some way, another 
altogether superfluous card has crept in. It seems to 
be in the game only to cause trouble. That card is the 
joker. In the card-deck are symbols of God, who he is, 
what he is, how he is; symbols of his creatures, too. 
God created everything good. But one creature had 
forgotten himself among God's good creatures only to 



DEVIL. JOKER 



141 



cause trouble. That creature is the devil. He is well 
symbolized by the nasty joker in the card game. 

i. Who is the devil? The devil is one of the fallen 

angels, who rebelled 
against God. God created 
everything good. The devil 
made himself bad by re- 
belling against his Creator. 
Every fallen angel is a 
devil. Their number is 
countless. 

2. Is there a devil? 
Some, at the present day 
try to make themselves 
and others believe, that 
there is no devil. Why do 
they do so ? For the same 
reason, that "the fool says 
in his heart : there is no 
God ;" because they wish, 
there were no devil, to whose abode their lives are 
very apt to lead them. It is one of his great tricks, 
to make people believe, that he does not exist; for 
he is pretty sure of getting those, who do not believe 
in his existence, just, as in a game of cards the great- 
est disturbance is caused by the joker, when play- 
ers are off their guard against him. There is a devil 
just so sure, as there is a God, and as there are angels, 
for the same infallible authority tells us so. The Bible 
says, that the Jews at the time, when our Blessed Lord 
was on earth believed in the devil. Did Jesus tell 
them, that that belief was wrong? On the contrary, 
he confirmed it, saying : "You have the devil for your 
father, who is a liar from beginning." (Jo. 8, 44.) 




142 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

The apostles, who were instructed by their divine Mas- 
ter, often spoke of the evil spirit. The Bible mentions 
the devil, or evil spirits, one hundred times — too much 
for his honor in such a holy book ; but it is done, that 
no one, who means it well with God and himself, can 
doubt his existence. 

3. How did they become devils? One of them, 
the highest of all the angels, called Lucifer, conceived 
a proud thought. He was not satisfied with merely 
being the highest of God's creatures. He wanted to 
be like God. He wanted to build his throne above the 
stars. He talked other angels into his idea, and they 
rebelled against God and they yelled : "We will not 
serve God any longer." A great fight took place in 
heaven. The greatest battle has only been a little fire- 
cracker battle in comparison to it. The archangel 
Saint Michael led the myriads of good angels, and 
their war-cry was, "Who is like God?" The evil spir- 
its were conquered. God created hell in an instant, 
and the rebellious spirits were hurled into it. (Apoc. 

12, 7-9-) 

4. Not all, however, are in hell all the time. They 
are, also, on this earth, where they, nevertheless, sufifer 
hell's pains and tempt men to rebel against God by 
transgressing his commandments (Eph. 2, 2.) ; for 
man has been created to take those places in heaven, 
which the rebellious angels lost. Hence, their jealousy 
and hatred. They still have their gifts of nature, that 
is, reason, free-will and a good deal of power left 
them; but .all are perverted to evil. 

5. Fortunately they cannot compel us to do evil; 
for we have our free-will. They can only suggest evil 
in thought, desire, imagination, word and deed and 
bring us into the occasion of sinning. Hence, they 



MAN NOT FROM MONKEY 143 

employ wicked persons as their helpers. Be on your 
guard against them all the time, everywhere, alone and 
with others. Put on the armor of true faith, prayer 
and the holy sacraments of Christ's true Church 
against them. That is the object of this book. Do you 
believe all this, what the Bible says and the Catholic 
Church teaches about angels and the devil ? If so, you 
are in so far a Catholic. 

II. Man. 

Among the millions of creatures on earth, man is 
the noblest. The Bible says, that God made man only 
a little less than the angels. (Ps. 8, 5.) Hence, next 
to the knowledge of God, no knowledge is of greater 
importance for us, than the knowledge of * ourselves. 

1. God created the first man, Adam, according to 
his own image and likeness. He formed a body out of 
earth and breathed into it an immortal soul, and man 
lived. He then created Eve, the first woman, out of 
the side of Adam. God, consequently, created directly 
the first two human beings : He formed Adam's body 
out of the earth and Eve's body out of a rib of Adam 
and he created an immortal soul for each one. All 
men, without distinction of race ^r color, are de- 
scended from this first pair, Adam and Eve. Their 
bodies are propagated according to the laws, which 
God created for man ; but the immortal soul, the prin- 
cipal part of man, God creates for each individual, and, 
therefore, it is truly said, that God creates every man. 
God made Adam the first king of earth and Eve the 
first queen. Adam is represented by the king and Eve 
by the queen of diamonds. Adam was to be the lord 
of earth, the servant of God; therefore, he is, also, 



144 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

represented by the jack of diamonds the "servant- 
card". 

2. Man, consequently, is composed of body and 
soul. Minerals have a body only. Plants have a body 
with only a vegetative principal of life. Animals have 
a body with only a vegetative and sensitive principal of 
life. Man has something of all these in him : There is 
mineral, as iron, air, heat, in his body ; the plant life is 
present in his nails and hair; the animal life in his 
body, and above all these he is endowed by the Creator 
with his spiritual life, the soul, in which the likeness of 
God exists, by which he is so far elevated above all the 
other creatures on this earth, as the eternal heavens 
are above this earth, and herein consists the dignity of 
man. The soul of man and the spirit of man is one and 
the same thing. The Bible, teaching this great truth, 
that man is composed of a body and soul, says : "The 
dust (body) will return to earth, the spirit, however, 
will return to God, who gave it." (Ecc. 12, 7.) Our 
holy Redeemer says : "Do not fear those, who can 
kill the body only, but not the soul." (Mt. 10, 28.) 
What the Bible and the Catholic Church plainly 
teach, is, that man is composed of a body and soul. 
That each one experiences. We all know, that head- 
ache, toothache, wounds, are pains of the body; that 
sorrow for wrong done, sadness, fear, are pains of the 
soul. 

3. God has good qualities, that are infinite in de- 
gree and infinite in number. The angels have wonder- 
ful qualities. All things have good qualities and all 
are from God and all owe them to God. It is not 
otherwise with man. He is endowed with both natural 
and supernatural qualities. He possesses five natural 
qualities in his body and five natural qualities in his 



MAN 'S BODY, SOUL, QUALITIES 145 

soul. They are all signs of God's love. That is the 
reason, why in the card-deck they are represented by 
the ten of hearts. 

i. The five natural qualities of the body are; i) 
The eyes. The emotions of the soul are reflected in 
the eyes. What a precious gift they are ! Do not mis- 
use them ! Thank Go % d for them. They are the doors, 
through which both good and evil enter the mind and 
heart. 2) The ears. They are always open, even in 
sleep, for we may need to hear at any time. Do not 
use them for listening to sinful things. 3) Above the 
mouth is the nose, which can distinguish good and bad 
food and drink by the smell. 4) The mouth is for tast- 
ing food and for communicating our thoughts by 
speech. Oh, what a blessing! Oh, how much mis- 
used! The first reason, why man has the gift of 
speech, is to praise God. 5) Feeling, under which all 
kinds of abilities are classed, as hands, feet, muscles. 
What a wonderful mechanism is the human body. The 
skin contains more than 2,000,000 openings for throw- 
ing off waste matter. It has more than two hundred 
distinct bones. An amount of blood equal to that in 
the whole body passes through the heart every minute. 
The lungs can hold three-hundred-twenty cubic inches 
of air. They breathe eighteen times a minute and con- 
sume three thousand cubic feet of air every hour. The 
stomach daily produces nine pounds of gastric juice. 
Take good care of your body, that you may be healthy. 
Men ought to live much longer, than they do, and with 
better care from youth on would enjoy much better 
health and longer life. But the body is mortal; only 
in his soul is man immortal. 

2. What are the natural qualities of the soul? 
They are: 1) Intellect, by which we can know truth 



146 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

from falsehood and learn things; 2) Reason, by which 
we distinguish good and evil and draw conclusions 
accordingly. Reason is the faculty, by which we can, 
also, perceive abstract and supernatural things, as God, 
faith, virtue, vice. Conscience is that part of reason, 
which says of one thing, it is good, you should do it; 
of another, it is wrong,. you must'avoid it; 3) Memory, 
by which we retain and recall, that what we have 
learned through the intellect and reason ; 4) Free-will, 
by which we can decide in favor of the good and 
against evil, or for the evil and against the good, which 
reason perceives, and in consequence of which faculty 
we are held responsible for our thoughts, words, ac- 
tions, and omissions of good deeds. Reason and free- 
will are the two great faculties, that constitute an un- 
limited difference between man and the brute. Ani- 
mals, also, have more or less intelligence and memory, 
but they have neither reason, nor free-will in that 
sense, in which man is endowed with them. 5) But 
the greatest gift of the soul is its immortality, that 
means, that it can never die, that it will live forever. 
Some say: "With death everything ends." Why do 
they speak such falsehood ? For the same reason, that 
"the fool says in his heart : There is no God/' and for 
the same reason, that they say: There is no devil, 
there is no hell ; because their lives are such, that they 
fear an unhappy immortality for themselves for all 
eternity, because immediately after immortality stands 
retribution according to their works, and retribution 
reminds them of the eternal torments of hell. If 
death were the end of man, the good, honest, virtuous, 
would be the fools in this life, and the rascals, and 
degenerates would be the prudent ones. Reason rebels 
against such an idea, and the Bible teaches the con- 



ADAM AND EVE. HEART FIVE 



147 



trary: "I know, that, when this body is destroyed, I 
will receive a home forever. in heaven." (II. Cor. 5, 
11.) Jesus said, there are two ways, that lead to 
eternity: The one narrow to eternal life; the other 
wide, upon which many walk to eternal perdition. (Mt. 
7, 13.) Of these, whoxlaim, that with death all ends, 
the Bible says, that on the great judgment day, they 
will lament: "What fools we were. We considered 
. the life of the God-fearing foolishness and their end 
i dishonorable ; they are now among the children of God 
and in the company of saints." What road and com- 
pany will you choose? The road, that the Catholic 
Church points out leads heavenward. 

3. God gave the angels natural and supernatural 
gifts. He did the same 
thing for man. The natu- 
ral gifts of the body and 
of the soul we have con- 
sidered, 

a) What were the pre- 
ternatural gifts of the 
body of Adam and Eve? 
They were five, of which 
the five of hearts reminds 
! us. 

1 ) They were free 
from sufferings of all 
kinds. They had no sick- 
nesses, pains, weaknesses 
to contend with. 2) Their 
life was to be all one bright 
summer day ; but sin deprived them and all their pos- 
terity of that great preternatural gift. 3) They were not 
to die. Sin brought death to them and through them it 




148 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

came to all their posterity. The devil brought sin, and 
sin brought death. 4) The earth was subject to them, 
and 5) the animals obeyed them. Sufferings of heat and 
cold, losses from fire, wate-r, electricity, air, and injury 
from animals came into the world, as a consequence of 
sin, on account of which God cursed the earth and its 
productions. 

b) The supernatural gifts of the soul were: 1) 
Freedom from evil desires and evil inclinations. The 
body and all its senses and faculties were fully subject 
to reason. 2) It was adorned with God's precious 
sanctifying grace, which rendered it just, holy and 
pleasing in the sight of God and by which it was much 
easier for them to decide in favor of the good and true, 
than for the evil and wrong. There, now, you per- 
ceive, what a noble being God has made man, and how 
precious the human soul must be, since the devil of- 
fered Jesus all the goods of this world for his soul. 

4. Where did God place Adam and Eve? The 
Bible says : "God made from beginning a pleasure 
garden and placed man in it." (I. Mos. 2, 8.) It is 
called paradise. In this 1) paradise was everything 
in abundance, that is good and loving on this earth: 
all kinds of delicious fruits, that grow anywhere on 
this entire earth; all the birds of sweet song and rich 
plumage, that are found over the entire earth ; all the 
beautiful sweet-smelling flowers, that are found over 
the entire earth, bloomed there ceaselessly and con- 
stantly filled the air with perfume; animals of all 
kinds were there and were tame and obedient to Adam 
and Eve. 2) Where that paradise was on earth, can- 
not be determined with certainty; nor does it matter, 
for it exists no more for us. There is only a higher 
and eternal and never-ending paradise awaiting us, if 



PARADISE. FAITH. DIAMOND ACE 149 

we walk the narrow road of the commandments of 
God. 3) What were they to do there? They were to 
cultivate and take care of it. (I. Mos. 2, 15.) This 
was not to be a laborious, tiresome task for them, but 
only an increase of joy, and they were to learn to 
know, to love and to serve Almighty God, and after a 
time they were to be ta.ken up into an eternal paradise 
into heaven. How their transition from earth to 
heaven was to take place, we do not know, because 
God has not been pleased to reveal it to us. Though 
they sinned and lost the earthly paradise, and, though 
we share in the evil consequences of their sin, we have 
the same high destiny, as they had : to learn to know, 
to love and to serve Almighty God, and for doing this 
faithfully on earth, after this life we are to come into 
the never fading joys of the heavenly paradise. Do 
you believe all this about the angels, the devil and men ? 
If so, then you are in so far a Catholic. 

CHAPTER IX. 



Faith. 

Man is upon earth not primarily for himself, not 
merely for others, not to make money nor only to 
enjoy this world's goods and pleasures, but he is in 
this world, in order to learn to know, to love and to 
serve Almighty God and by doing that faithfully here, 
to come to God in heaven after this life. That is the 
design, which God had in view at his creation. That is 
man's chief object of existence, given him by his Crea- 
tor; that is man's bounden duty, placed upon him by 
his Creator. He has that obligation from the very 
moment and fact of his existence. He need not first 
take it upon himself by a solemn declaration, by what 



150 



CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 



some people falsely call "taking religion", or "getting 
an inspiration", or "receiving a special manifestation 
of the holy Spirit". This earth, consequently, is not 

man's permanent home, he 

A is only a pilgrim here, 

making a journey from 
♦ time to eternity, and, ac- 

cording to God's designs, 
from this earth into a 
happy eternity. But the 
road to heaven is not the 
wide road of the pleasures 
of this world. Upon which 
many wander downwards 
to perdition, but the nar- 
row, steep road, that leads 
upward, through many 
crosses to eternal crowns. 
Man, through his fallen 
nature, is weak, so that 
he is very apt to miss the right road to heaven. Who 
will safely lead him ? There is only one ace of hearts 
in the card-deck. It represents the one true God. Just 
so, there is only one ace of diamonds.. It represents 
the one true religion, which is the greatest gift of God 
to man. Its duty is to lead man safely to God. It has 
led countless millions into heaven. It will do so for 
you, if you will only do, what it tells you. (P. 273.) 

I. "One faith is as good as another." "Man can 
be saved in any faith." These are great popular say- 
ings. Let us not answer them hastily, but let us exam- 
ine into them fairly and honestly 1 ) in the light of rea- 
son, 2) in the light of the Bible and 3) in the light of 
history, which are the three great sources of proof for 




ONE FAITH AS GOOD AS ANOTHER 151 

religious questions. Some people mix up faith, reli- 
gion, Church, Bible, opinion, knowledge, inclination, 
virtue, freedom from ' gross vices and crimes. But 
they all differ. 

i. What is faith? Faith is a gift of God, a divine 
virtue and a supernatural light, by which we perceive 
and hold undoubtingly as true and firmly believe all, 
what God has revealed and what he continually pro- 
poses to us to be believed through his divine Church, 
and which is absolutely necessary for salvation. 

i ) Faith can, . consequently, exist only, where 
someone has said something, and we believe it true, not 
because we see it, or know it, to be so from other 
sources, but simply upon the word of the other. If we 
see a truth either with our eyes or with our mind, we 
have no more faith, we do not believe it, but we know 
it. If we doubt about it, we have only an opinion about 
it, not faith in the true sense. Some men want to see 
everything in matters of faith, before they believe it; 
but that is a contradiction. Where there is positive 
knowledge, there is no more faith. The Bible clearly 
teaches this: "Faith is the substance of things to be 
hoped for; the evidence of things, that appear not." 
(Heb. ii, i.) Hence, those, who say: I would like to 
believe, but I cannot, for I do not see it, have a wrong 
notion of faith. They mistake knowledge for faith. 
The sayings of men do not always give us absolute 
security for the truth ; because men can and do deceive 
and can be and are deceived. On religious matters many 
deceive themselves, as the Bible says : "Many are 
deceived by their own opinion." (Ecc. 3, 24.) Of 
God this cannot be said ; for he cannot deceive, nor be 
deceived. Consequently, his sayings give us absolute 
assurance of the truth, and that is the reason, why he 



152 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

demands absolute submission of our understanding to 
his will and absolute acceptance of his revelations and 
the holding of them undoubtingly as true for the sole, 
simple reason, because he - has said so. Our divine 
Master implied that same truth, when he said to his 
apostles and through them to their lawful successors : 
"Go, teach all nations ; they, who will not believe, shall 
be condemned." (Mt. 28, 19.) He did not say: Go 
and argue with them ; but lay the law, the truth, down 
to them. He did not say : Those, who can see it, will 
be saved ; but who will believe. Faith, not knowledge, 
is a condition of salvation. A certain amount of 
knowledge is necessary for those, who have the use of 
reason, in order to have a reasonable faith and in order 
to properly exercise faith. But the unreasoning, who 
have received the gift and virtue of faith in baptism, 
but who have no knowledge of it yet, are saved by that 
faith. 

2) What must we believe so undoubtingly as true? 
All that is in the Bible and all that God's true Church 
teaches us ; for that was one reason, why he instituted 
his Church and commanded us to hear her. 

QUESTION ANSWERED: "Is it not sufficient 
for salvation to believe only the fundamental truths in 
the Bible?" 

a) What are the fundamental doctrines? The 
Bible does not say. Who can tell? Where will you 
begin with them ? Where end with them ? The cards 
in a card-deck are all in immediate connection of one 
another. Just so are all truths in the Bible and in 
the teachings of the Catholic Church in immediate con- 
nection with each other, as you pefceive in this book. 
As soon, as we admit the existence of God, of which no 
sound mind can doubt, all the rest is logical conse- 



NECESSARY RELIGIOUS KNOWLEDGE 153 

quence. That the belief in the fundamental truths 
should be sufficient for salvation, is too vague a doc- 
trine to hang eternal salvation on. There is nothing 
vague, nothing indefinite, nothing uncertain, no guess- 
work about the holy Catholic faith, religion and 
Church. All is clean, clearcut, well defined, as the 
cards in a card-deck, and the spots thereon. Conse- 
quently, it is contrary to the Bible to say, that it is suf- 
ficient for salvation to believe only fundamental truths. 

b) If the belief in, the fundamental truths are suf- 
ficient, then the others would be superfluous, and then 
God, revealing them, has done an idle thing, which is 
blasphemy to maintain. (P. 273.) 

c) Jesus commanded the apostles and through 
them their lawful successors to "teach everything, 
what he had commanded them", not only some things. 

3) Because we take oath to uphold the constitution 
of the United States, it does not follow, that we must 
know everything in it, to be good citizens; just so, 
although we must firmly, undoubtingly believe, what 
God has revealed and proposes to us to be believed 
through his Church, it does not follow, that we must 
be able to enumerate all, in order to be saved, or even 
to be good Catholics. Absolutely necessary for salva- 
tion to know is for those, who have no opportunity of 
learning more, that there is a God and that God re- 
wards the good and punishes the evil in eternity. For 
those who have more opportunity, but even less, than 
those, who read this book, must know 1) Apostle's 
Creed; 2) the Lord's prayer; 3) Act of Contrition, 
consequently, something about sin ; 4) Ten Command- 
ments; 5) Six precepts of the Church; 6) something 
of the essentials of baptism, confession, and holy com- 
munion; 7) those, who carefully read this book, will 



154 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

have sufficient knowledge to fulfill the demand of the 
first commandment of God, that says we must learn to 
know God. 

4) Faith is a divine light, by which we can and do 
acknowledge and firmly believe all that God has re- 
vealed, and what his Church in his name teaches us. 
This is especially true of the mysteries of our holy 
religion. This does not mean, that by the light of 
faith we can fully understand the nature of those mys- 
teries. If that were the case, there would be no mys- 
teries of religion. • 

OBJECTION SOLVED. "Mysteries of faith are 
useless and contrary to reason." a) Humility is the 
foundation of all virtues. To submit our limited 
understanding to the infinite mind of God, teaches us 
humility. Consequently, in believing mysteries, we 
submit our understanding to God and learn humility. 
That surely is not a useless thing, b) Contrary to rea- 
son is only a contradiction, but not what is merely 
above reason. If, for instance, our faith demanded of 
us to believe, that there is one God and that there are 
three gods, that would be a contradiction. Mysteries 
are not contrary to, but only above, reason, c) Visible 
nature around us is full of natural mysteries. Why 
should there be no mysteries in God, and, consequently, 
in the truths, which he demands of us to hold undoubt- 
ingly as true? If we could see everything plainly, 
what God has revealed, we would be like God, and to 
dictate to God, that he had no right to ask our absolute 
consent to mysteries of faith, is to make the same mis- 
take, that Lucifer and his followers made against God 
in heaven, saying: "We will not submit." 

5) Faith is a divine virtue. Virtue consists in 
repeated and continued good acts. True faith is to be 



WHO IS A CATHOLIC? 155 

a virtue in the soul of man. It teaches us, that faith 
must be continually lived up to, exercised, and that is 
religion. The virtue of faith is divine, because God 
has given it to us gratuitously, and because it deals in 
divine things. 

2. Who is a Catholic christian? The word "chris- 
tian" comes from the word "Christ", which means 
"the anointed." We are truly anointed in the holy 
sacrament of baptism and again in confirmation. The 
priests are anointed in a special manner at ordination ; 
all are anointed on the deathbed in preparation for the 
great journey into eternity. What a beautiful signifi- 
cation the name "christian" has in the Catholic Church 
and how truly everything is done to merit it ! 

3. Who is a Catholic christian? A Catholic chris- 
tian is one, who is baptized, believes all, what God has 
revealed and what he proposes to us to be believed 
through his holy Catholic Church, who keeps the ten 
commandments and the six precepts of the Church. 
Those, who are externally affiliated with the Church, 
belong to the body of the Church. Those who are 
merely baptized and are in good faith and do the best 
they can, belong to the spirit of the Church, even if 
bodily they do not appear to belong to the Church. 

4. How is a Catholic known? Every society has 
its distinctive sign for recognition. Some professions, 
occupations, have a uniform. Others have secret signs 
and pass-words. There is absolutely nothing secret in 
any way about the Catholic faith, religion, or Church. 
Yet, her members have an exclusive sign, by which 
they are known throughout the whole world. It is the 
sign of the cross. Wherever you see someone making 
devoutly the sign of the cross, or blessing himself with 
it, you at once know, that he is a Catholic. 



156 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

i) How is it made? It is made with the point of 
the fingers of the right hand upon the forehead, thence 
moving that same hand to the breast, thence to the left 
shoulder, thence to the right shoulder. The words, 
which are used to accompany the action, are the words 
of Christ himself, and are, consequently, from the 
Bible (Mt. 28, 19.), and, therefore, they are no super- 
stition, no new invention. There is no superstition 
taught by the Catholic Church, nor is there any new 
invention of doctrine. 

2) What are those words and what is their mean- 
ing? On the forehead we say: "In the name of the 
Father", because here is the seat of reason, and we 
here make a profession of faith in this revealed mys- 
tery, that God the Father has generated his divine Son 
from all eternity by his divine reason. As we move 
our hand from forehead down to the breast, we say: 
"and of the Son," and we make a profession of faith 
in this revealed truth, that the Son of God descended 
from heaven into this world, where he assumed human 
nature and died for our redemption on the cross, the 
sign, which we are making. Moving our hand from 
left to right shoulder, we say: "and of the Holy 
Ghost," which is a profession of faith in this holy mys- 
tery, that the Holy Ghost proceeds from both the 
Father and the Son from all eternity, and it, also, sig- 
nifies, that by the death of Christ on the cross, we have 
been brought from the left side of damnation to the 
right side of salvation. 

3) When is it made? It is made before and after 
prayer, a) Before prayer we place ourselves and our 
prayer beneath the protection of the cross of Christ. 
It is there a profession of our faith, that our prayer by 
its own power avails us nothing, if separated from the 



SIGN OF THE CROSS 157 

merits, which Christ has obtained for us on the cross, 
and that we can expect an answer to our prayers only 
in consequence of that redemption of Christ on the 
cross. Surely a beautiful reason for making it before 
prayer, b) Why is it made after prayer? When offi- 
cials make out a document, they impress upon it their 
stamp, their seal, so that it may be acknowledged as 
genuine and have the desired effect. That is just why 
the sign of the cross is made after prayer. It is the 
stamp, the seal of our redemption, so that, when our 
guardian angel presents our prayer before the throne 
of God, it may have the desired effect, so that grace 
and blessing may come back for it. 

c) It is, also, made in trials and temptations ; for it 
is a very powerful weapon against the devil. He 
knows the cross. It is the sign, on which the Son of 
God broke his power. He hates it and fears it ; that is 
the reason, why he has it ridiculed by those, who do 
not understand it. 

4) Why is it made? a) Because it is a very pious 
and ancient custom. It came down to us from the 
apostles. They made it, and the early christians made 
it. The apostles were taught by Christ. They must have 
understood their business. Who can doubt, but that 
he taught them, how, when and why to make it, espe- 
cially since the words used in it, came from his own 
divine lips. Surely no one ought to find fault with 
that reason, b) Because it is a special veneration of 
the most holy Unity and Trinity of God, the incarna- 
tion and redemption. Hence, it is a genuine act of 
adoration. Consequently, it is fitting for any chris- 
tian. To be ashamed of it means to be ashamed of 
knowing, that there is a God and three divine persons 
in that God. c) The devil tempts us everywhere and 



158 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

at all times. Consequently, we ought to have a weapon 
at hand everywhere and at all times. The sign of the 
cross is that w T eapon. In time of temptation use it and 
you will not need to repeat it many times, and the 
temptation will be gone, d) It is our badge of mem- 
bership in the greatest society on earth, which numbers 
over 300,000,000 and was founded by God himself. 
It is our sign of recognition on earth. It will be the 
sign of recognition in heaven. e) Every society 
has its banner, which heads it in its processions. 
The cross is our banner. It heads the 300,000,000 
marching on to eternity. We place it upon our church 
steeples, where it preaches to every passer-by, telling 
him, that he is only a pilgrim on this earth, pointing 
upwards, to his eternal home, and that it is only 
through the cross of Christ, that he can expect to 
arrive there, and that "through cross to crown", should 
be a motto of every christian. Behold, the grand rea- 
sons for making the sign of the cross ! There is noth- 
ing silly, nothing trivial, nothing superstitious about 
the Catholic faith, religion, or Church. All these 
things are in the Bible, and the Catholic Church 
teaches them all. Summing up, it becomes clear, that 
one faith is not as good, as another, and that men can- 
not be saved in any faith, but only in the true, God- 
given faith. Do you believe it all? If so, you are 
in so far a Catholic. 

II. "One religion is as good as another." This is 
another very popular saying. What is there to it ? 

1. The word religion comes from the Latin word 
"religare", which means to bind. Religion, conse- 
quently, is a bond between God and man. Who can 
establish that bond? Man or a body of men? .How 
can they? It is utterly impossible; for a bond implies 



' ' ONE RELIGION AS GOOD AS ANOTHER ' ' 159 

mutual obligations. How can man oblige God to any 
thing? Only God can establish such a bond. He has 
done so, as is clear from the Bible. Man's obligation 
on the part of this religious bond, divinely established, 
is to practice that, what religion teaches him. Reli- 
gion, consequently, is the exercise of faith. Hence, 
religion is not a matter of choice any more, than faith. 
God has established that bond for all without excep- 
tion, and, consequently, he has imposed the duty of that 
bond on every one, whether man wills it, or not. God 
need not first ask man about it. Consequently, every 
man has those duties of religion by nature. He need 
not first take them upon himself by taking religion. 
God's ten commandments impose them. 

2. There are one thousand religions on earth. They 
can all be reduced to these four : i ) The Heathen reli- 
gion. It cannot be the true religion, for it adores false 
gods. (Rom. i, 23.) 2) The Mahomedan religion. It 
cannot be the true religion, for it adores the false and 
lying prophet Mahomed and places him above Jesus 
Christ, the true Son of God and true Savior of the 
world. 3) The Jewish religion. They adore the true 
God, and their religion once was the true, revealed reli- 
gion of God ; but it is no more, for the reason, that the 
divinely promised Savior of the world has come in 
Jesus Christ; but they reject him and still expect the 
promised Savior of the world. 4) There is nothing 
left but the christian religion, the religion of Jesus 
Christ, which adores one God in three divine persons 
and believes all, what God has revealed, and practices 
what Jesus taught personally and teaches through his 
Church. But here we are confronted with another dif- 
ficulty. The christian religion is cut up into many 
sects, which more or less contradict each other. How 



160 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

can we know the true religion from the false? It 
seems so difficult. Therefore, it is easier to believe, 
that "one religion is as good,' as another." 

3. There are three great sources of proof to settle 
all religious questions by: 1) reason, 2) the Bible, 3) 
experience. What does each say on this great ques- 
tion, whether "one religion is as good, as another ?" 

a) Reason tells us, if men can be saved in any reli- 
gion then all religions must be equally 1) good, 2) 
true, and 3) pleasing to God. 

1) If one religion is as good, as another, and, if 
men can be saved in any religion, then the religion of 
the Heathen, Mahomedan and Jew, who either know 
nothing about Jesus Christ, or reject him, as the true 
God and Savior of the world, must be as good, true 
and pleasing to God, as the religion of those, who adore 
the true God, the Creator of heaven and earth, and 
Jesus Christ, as true God and the Savior of men ; for 
reason will tell us, that only the best and truest religion 
can please God, and that it will not do to take any 
chances for eternal salvation, for we have only one 
chance to obtain it. 

2) If one religion is as good, as another, and if 
men can be saved in any religion, then all the follow- 
ing, contradictions must be equally true : 

(1) That Jesus Christ is truly both God and man 
and our Savior and that he is not ; 

(2) That the Blessed Virgin Mary is the true 
Mother of Jesus Christ and, consequently, the true 
Mother of God according to his human nature, and 
that she is not ; 

(3) That we have an immortal soul, and that man 
ends with death, as the brute ; 



"all religions alike" 161 

(4) That God created man, and that he is de- 
scended from the monkey; 

(5) That all men have sinned through Adam, as 
Saint Paul says : "Through one man came sin and 
through sin death", and that, because all suffer the 
punishment of sin, alt must be conceived and born in 
sin, for God is just and cannot punish without guilt, 
and that this doctrine of the Bible is false ; 

(6) That for salvation both faith and good works 
are necessary, and that they are not necessary ; 

(7) That man can and must keep all of the ten 
commandments of God, and that he need not and can- 
not do so; 

(8) That Jesus Christ did establish one Church 
only, when he said: "Thou art Peter, and that is a 
rock, and upon this rock I will build my Church," and 
that he did not do so; 

(9) That God alone can establish a Church and 
teach a religion, as God alone can give faith, and that 
man can arrogate this divine right to himself; 

(10) That Jesus Christ left a sacrifice to his 
Church, as the foundation of all true religious wor- 
ship, as is clear from the Bible, and that he did not do 
so; 

(11) That he left seven holy sacraments in his 
holy Church, as the Bible has it, and that he left none, 
or only two ; 

(12) That baptism is necessary for salvation, as 
the Bible says, and that it is not necessary. Enough ! 
for here are given twelve incontrovertible reasons, one 
for each of the twelve picture cards in the card 
deck, clearly setting forth, that reason tells us, that all 
those things cannot be equally good, true and pleasing 



162 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

to God, and that, consequently, one religion is not as 
good, as another. 

(b) But reason might lead us astray. What does 
the Bible say on: "One religion is as good, as 
another." 

(i) It tells us, that our holy Redeemer taught a 
new religion and instituted a new Church and com- 
manded her to teach that religion to all men. Why 
would he do this, if men could be saved in any faith, 
and if one religion were as good, as another? For the 
Jews had a religion, and at that time theirs was the true 
religion. He must have known, what was necessary 
for salvation. What he did, goes to show, that one 
religion is not as good, as another, for salvation. 
Which religion did he teach ? The Catholic, or one of 
the many sects? Everyone who is acquainted with 
the history of religion, knows full well, that he taught 
only the Catholic religion. 

(2) Why did he command his apostles to preach 
his doctrine to every creature ? Why make acceptance 
of it a condition of eternal salvation and its rejection 
sufficient for damnation ? This would have been un- 
just if men could be saved in any faith, religion, 
Church. Which was that religion? The Catholic, or 
one of the numberless sects? 

(3) Why does Saint Paul say: "Only one faith, 
as there is only one Lord." That one faith is here 
represented by the ace of diamonds, the most precious 
material on earth. What "one faith" did Saint Paul 
mean and teach? Was he a Catholic, or was he of 
some other denomination? 

(4) Why did Saint Paul admonish the true be- 
lievers: "Be on your guard against false prophets, 
who teach other religions, than the one, which I 



"all religions equally good" 163 

taught you?" Consequently, what right reason dic- 
tates, that holy Scripture confirms, that one religion 
is not as good, as another. 

(c) But we might not reason logically, we might 
not understand the Bible correctly. What do the ac- 
tions of wise men, history and experience say on this 
! same important subject? 

(i) The apostles were taught by Christ, they must 
have known, what the true religion was. They taught 
Christ's doctrine and established his religion and his 
Church under great difficulties and sealed their teach- 
ings with their lives. Why all this, if men can be saved 
in any faith, religion, church? Men do not do so for 
indifferent things. What religion did the apostles 
have? To what church did they belong? The history 
of religions clearly tell us, that they were Catholics. 

(2) Why have 700 of the best non-Catholic clergy- 
men of other denominations come over to the Catholic 
Church in the past fifty years? In the United States 
alone we get about 40,000 converts a year from the 
very best people. Why? Because one religion is as 
good, as another? Hardly. People do not make such 
great sacrifices for nothing; nor for superstition, but 
for real convictions and out of a sincere sense of duty 
only, and out of a realization of the necessity for eter- 
nal salvation, to belong to the one only true faith, reli- 
gion and Church. 

(3) Thousands of Catholic priests and sisters of 
charity give up everything worldly, that is dear to the 
human heart, to make more secure their own salvation 
and that of others, and they are all of the brightest and 
most intelligent and virtuous men and women. Why? 
Because one religion is as good, as another? No, in- 
deed. Their lives are in harmony with right reason 



164 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

and with the teachings of the Bible and the Catholic 
Church. The Catholic religion has over 300,000,000 
faithful adherents in all the ranks and walks and con- 
ditions of life, millions of them the most learned and 
the most pious men and women on earth. Can it be 
prudently, honestly maintained, that they are all crazy 
and do not understand their business, or are actuated 
by superstition? Surely not. Consequently, the popu- 
lar sayings : "One religion is as good, as another," 
"one faith is as good, as another," "men can be saved 
in any faith, religion, or church," is clearly 1) against 
the logical deductions of right reason that God-given 
quality for our guidance in truth ; 2) against the teach- 
ings of the Bible, which is God's own teaching; and 3) 
against undeniable facts of history and experience and 
the conduct of wise, good, honest, true men and wo- 
men. Those sayings are, consequently, not from God, 
but from the evil spirit. 

(4) How, then, can we recognize the true religion? 
How distinguish it from all false ones ? It is not diffi- 
cult. There is nothing mysterious about those things. 
They are very clean, clearcut, as the cards in a card- 
deck and the figures on them. They are defined facts 
of sacred history. 

1) The true religion, the true bond between God 
and man, must be that, which Christ himself estab- 
lished and taught. Now, history is very clear on this 
point, that Christ taught none other, than the Catholic 
religion. All agree on that. Now, if it once was the 
true religion, it still must be. Why ? Because he prom- 
ised it his assistance to the end of time. (Mt. 28, 20.) 
The Spirit of truth helps to maintain it without fail. 
(Jo. 14, 16.) If the Catholic religion once was the 
true religion of Christ, but is now no more, then either 



WHICH IS THE TRUE RELIGION? 165 

a) he could not uphold it, or b) he did not want to 
uphold it. To say, that he could not preserve it, is the 
same, as to say, he is not all-powerful, and that is the 
same, as to say, he is not God, and, if he is not God, 
then there is no Redeemer, and if we are not redeemed, 
then there is no christian religion at all. To say, that 
he did not want to preserve it, is the same, as to say, 
that he became untrue to his promises, and, if he did, 
he is not God. Consequently, to maintain such tenets 
is pure blasphemy, for he can and does uphold his 
works. 

2) The true religion must be that, which, accord- 
ing to his command, has been preached throughout the 
entire world: "Go, ye, into the whole world, preach 
the gospel to every creature." (Mt. 16, 15.) There 
are 3,034 languages on earth. Among them there is 
not one, in which the Catholic religion has not been 
preached and practiced and Catholic prayers sent to 
the throne of Almighty God. There are 1,000 religions 
on earth. Among them there is not another one, of 
which history records such facts. The Catholic reli- 
gion is spread over all the world. There is not a 
nation, not a country, not an island, where there are no 
Catholics. Consequently, the facts of history prove 
the Catholic religion to be the religion of Christ. 

3) The true religion of Christ must be that, which 
according to his own predictions, is persecuted. Many 
say: "the Catholics are hated. Hence, I do not want 
to belong to them." That is one of the strong proofs, 
that the Catholic religion is the true religion of Christ ; 
for Jesus said : "Behold, I will send you like sheep in 
the midst of wolves." (Mt. 10, 16.) If the Catholic 
faith, religion and Church were wrong, the devil would 
be well satisfied with them, and the Catholics would 



166 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

not be persecuted for their religion's sake. Over 
16,000,000 Catholics have suffered martyrdom for 
their religion's sake. They are 16,000,000 proofs in 
favor of the absolute truthfulness of the Catholic 
faith, religion and Church, and countless millions have 
been led to heaven by them. What more does any one 
want, than an absolute leader to heaven? He, who 
taught the Catholic religion and founded the Catholic 
Church, to teach it and practice it in, said of his reli- 
gion and his Church as well, as of himself : "I am the 
way, the truth and the life/' The Catholic faith is the 
groundwork on the way to salvation ; the Catholic reli- 
gion exercises those truths of the true faith ; the Cath- 
olic Church vivifies by her sacrifice of the Mass, by her 
prayers and the sacraments, the means of obtaining 
the sanctifying grace of God, those, who have that 
faith and exercise that religion and belong to that 
Church. 

5. OBJECTION SOLVED. "I do my own 
thinking." That is no objection against the Catholic 
faith, religion, nor Church, for that is Catholic doc- 
trine exactly. 1) When we need legal advice, we 
think, that the proper, prudent, intelligent thing for us 
to do, is to go to an expert on civil law, a lawyer, who 
will think out the right advice for us, or in other 
words, will do the thinking for us ; and the man who 
says: "I do my own thinking," does the very same 
thing. If he does not, he does not act prudently. 2) 
In sickness we prudently do our own thinking by call- 
ing a doctor to think for us in a similar manner, as the 
lawyer ; and the man, who says : "I do my own think- 
ing," does the same thing. 3) We do our own think- 
ing in making laws ; we elect by vote legislators, who 
do the thinking for us in that line ; and the man, who 



"i DO MY OWN THINKING" 167 

says : "I do my own thinking," does the same thing. 
4) On education we do our own thinking by sending 
our children to school to be there taught by the teach- 
er ; and the man, who says : "I do my own thinking," 
does the same thing: 5) On religious matters we pru- 
dently and logically do our own thinking, too. We 
think we need expert advice and sure guidance and we 
go to experts on religious knowledge. It is only here, 
where the other fellow becomes imprudent and illogi- 
cal and quits us, and says, there is no expert advice on 
religion, and why? For the same reason, that "the 
fool says in his heart, there is no God." Saint Paul 
says: "Faith comes by hearing." Hearing what? 
Hearing whom? Your own thinking? Or that of 
those, whom Christ has appointed for that purpose to 
teach and, consequently, to be heard. In a card-game 
every one must do his own thinking, but, unless he 
thinks prudently along the lines of the rules laid down 
for that game, he will either lose or break up the 
game. One cannot even play solitaire without doing 
his own thinking along the lines of the rules laid down 
for it. Now, if a little simple card-game cannot even 
be played without doing one's own thinking correctly 
and logically and prudently, how much less can one 
expect to have the truth on faith, religion, Church, 
and, consequently, eternal salvation without that same 
kind of prudent and logical thinking? The affairs of 
our eternal salvation are the most important in life 
and, consequently, the most prudent will seek the most 
prudent and best advice on them, that can be had. 
That is exactly the way Catholics do their own think- 
ing on faith, religion and Church, along the lines of the 
rules laid down by Almighty God himself in the Bible 
and by his Church. That is the reason, why they posi- 



168 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

tively know, that they are thinking safely for eternal 
salvation. Hence, appears the absolute necessity of 
learning thoroughly and correctly the great truths of 
the true faith and the true religion from God's own 
expert, his holy Catholic Church through her divinely 
appointed teachers, the Pope, bishops and priests. To 
give you a complete knowledge of those truths, is the 
object of this book, and that knowledge is uniquely 
attached to playing cards. 

OBJECTION SOLVED. "Some men have gone 
wrong in the Catholic Church ; hence, I do not believe 
in her." That is admitted. It would be very strange, 
if it were not so, occasionally ; but that is no argument 
against the Church, nor against her ministers, as a 
body. One of Christ's twelve apostles went wrong, 
but that is no argument against Christ, nor against the 
other eleven apostles. We have in these United States 
the grandest free government on earth. Very many 
go wrong in it. But that is no argument against the 
form of government. Men continually break God's 
ten commandments. But that is no argument against 
the ten commandments. It only shows human frailty 
and malice. 

Where can you find the experts on religious knowl- 
edge and obtain the right kind and absolutely safe 
advice? Non-Catholics too often expect every Catho- 
lic to be an expert and to satisfactorily answer all their 
intricate queries and to expel all their doubts, and, 
when they cannot do so, cry out "Catholic ignorance". 
Is that fair? Is that honest? When you want expert 
advice on civil law, do you go to your next neighbor, 
or to a lawyer? You and your neighbor may be first- 
class citizens and yet, not experts in law. Just so it is 
with the Catholics. They may be very good, true, hon- 



RELIGIOUS EXPERTS. BIBLE 169 

est, virtuous members of the true Church of Christ, 
without being experts in her doctrine, or in the Bible. 
Go to any Catholic priest. They are the experts in the 
Catholic Church. There is no more learned, nor more 
upright body of men. They prepare by twelve long 
years of college life, by continual prayers, meditations, 
reading, studying and observation for their profession. 
Do not be backward in asking them about the Catholic 
faith, religion and Church; for of them Christ said: 
"Who hears you hears me." 

CHAPTER X. 



Bible and Tradition. 

We must believe all, what God has revealed and 
what he proposes to us to be believed through his 
Church. Where will we find all that ? In the I ) Bible 
and in 2) Tradition, as both are had in the Catholic 
Church. Both are more precious to us, than diamonds 
of earth. Wherefore, they are here represented by the 
two of diamonds of the card-deck. 

I. The Bible. 

What is the Bible ? Bible, holy Scripture, the writ- 
ten Word of God, divine Revelation, God's recorded 
Teaching, the Book of Books, the Good Book, all 
mean the same thing. 

1. What is the sacred Scripture? It is the collec- 
tion and contents of all those books, i) written under 
the influence of the Holy Ghost and 2) acknowledged 
by the Catholic Church, as the Word of God. These 
two qualities no other book possesses. 

1 ) Written under the influence of the Holy Spirit 
means, that he 1) assigned the matter for the writers 
to write; 2) impelled them to write that matter; 3) 



170 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

he enlightened them and led them, so that they really 
did write down, what he wanted them to write, so that 
they truly did write God's Word. It is not sufficient 
to believe, that the Bible is a good book, or a book con- 
taining no mistakes ; but we must, also, believe it to be . 
divine. 

2) These books are acknowledged by the Catholic 
Church to be so written under the guidance of the Holy 
Ghost, and declared by her to contain God's revelation 
to men. 

2. There are seventy-two of these books; when 
bound in one volume, they are commonly called the 
Bible. It contains 416 chapters. If you read three 
chapters during the week and five on every Sunday, 
you will read the whole Bible through in one year. 
There are in it 800,000 words and 4,000,000 letters. 
The word God occurs 600 times in it ; Jesus, 769 times. 
There are 350 quotations in the New Testament, taken 
from the Old Testament. 

3. How do we know the sacred Scripture to be 
divine ? 

1) From the supernatural truths contained in them 
about God, creation of the world and man and man's 
end and destiny, which no man by human intelligence 
alone could know. 2) From the prophecies contained 
in them about the birth of the Son of God from the 
Blessed Virgin Mary, his death and resurrection, 
which no human mind from natural causes could fore- 
tell. 3) From the miracles, which most of the writers 
of them performed ; they were the divine seal, stamped 
on their writings. 4) From the declaration of the 
Catholic Church, which is guided by the holy Spirit. 
This is the principal reason. The Bible itself does not 
say, that it is inspired. You may read about this ques- 



"the catholic bible chained' 7 171 

tion, think about it, study over it, argue over it, philoso- 
phize about it, you will find no other sufficient reason, 
but just because the Catholic Church says so; and, if 
you do not accept the Bible to be the Bible upon the 
authority of the Catholic Church, you accept it upon 
the authority of some man, or men, who have never 
shown that they were divinely commissioned to make 
any such declaration. 

4. What, if anything in the sacred Scripture is 
changed, added, or omitted ? Then those parts so 
changed, or the entire book, or books, become mere 
human writings, and are no longer the Word of God. 

5. To what does the inspiration of the Holy Ghost 
extend ? To not only the meaning, but, also, the word 
in the original writing, not in the translation nor in 
copies of translations; for the individual words pro- 
duce the meaning. If the divine inspiration did not 
extend to some word, why to another one ? And then 
there would be no limit to the exception. 

6. Does the Catholic Church forbid the reading of 
the Bible? It does not; it never did. It encourages 
the prudent reading of it with the proper, authorized, 
comments. 

7. Did the Church formerly keep the Bible chained ? 
Both yes and no. No, in this sense, that it could not 
and should not be read. Yes, in that sense, that it 
could be read by everybody. Before printing was in- 
vented, and that was invented by a Catholic, and his 
first book printed was the Bible, books were very ex- 
pensive things, for they had to be written by hand. 
Every family could not own one ; but every congrega- 
tion sought to own one, and that one was chained solid 
to the wall, where it was placed on a reading desk near 
some window, so that no one could carry it away, but 



172 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

that everybody knew, just where to find it at any time, 
just as door mats, drinking cups, city directories, are 
chained, so that they are always in their proper place. 
Any thing else about the Catholic Bible being chained 
is malicious slander, as everything else, that is said 
against the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church 
had ordered 626 different editions of the Bible, not 
mere copies, in ten different languages, before a false 
reformer bragged about giving an open Bible to the 
world. Allowing only 10,000 copies to each edition, 
there were over 6,000,000 copies in circulation, read 
doubtlessly by 60,000,000 Catholic people. 

8. Who has a right to interpret the Bible? The 
divinely constituted authority in God's true Church. 

OBJECTION SOLVED. "I do my own think- 
ing on the meaning of the Bible." That is Catholic 
doctrine exactly. For w r e think, that we need an abso- 
lutely safe and correct interpreter and we choose the 
one appointed by Christ himself, the Founder of the 
Catholic Church, and that divine interpreter is the in- 
fallible Catholic Church itself. 

Catholics do not believe in private interpretation of 
the Bible any more, than they believe in each man hav- 
ing a right to interpret the laws of his state, or the 
constitution of the United States. All criminals, 
frauds, interpret the law in their favor. We do not 
believe that to be right. Just so little do we believe, 
that each man can correctly interpret the Bible. There 
are in the United States alone 350 different religious 
sects, each claiming, that its interpretation of the Bible 
is the only correct one. The devil, too, twists holy 
Scripture into his own favor. Men have broken every 
commandment of God, justifying such violations from 
private interpretations of the Bible, That is the con- 



PRIVATE BIBLE INTERPRETATION 173 

sequence, when the divine authority of the Catholic 
Church is denied. If you want to do your own think- 
ing on civil law, you must think on it along the lines of 
its true interpretation by the proper courts. If you 
want to do your own thinking on the Bible, you must 
do the same thing, think on it along the lines of its 
proper interpretation by the divinely constituted court, 
God's holy true Catholic Church, in which the Pope is 
the judge of last resort. 

9. Is it necessary for salvation to read the Bible? 
The Bible does not say, that it is necessary, nor does 
Christ say so; nor did he command the apostles to 
write any thing, and only some did later on write some 
things. He commanded his apostles to preach his doc- 
trine, and the Bible says, that, "faith comes by hear- 
ing/' not by reading. Supposing, it were necessary for 
salvation to read the Bible, what about those, who can- 
not read. Salvation would then be placed beyond their 
reach. Thousands had been saved through preaching, 
before a word of the New Testament was written. 
Christ and the holy Spirit did teach everything neces- 
sary for us to know for our salvation. If the reading 
of the Bible were necessary for salvation, it would be* 
unaccountable, why Christ did not write his doctrine. 
He wrote not a word of it. 

II. Tradition. 

The Bible itself says, that not everything, that 
Christ said and did and taught is written down. 
Where, then, do we get with assurance, what was not 
written down? That we get in the Catholic Church 
by tradition. What is that? Tradition is the oral 
teaching, preaching, interpreting and teaching of the 
divine truths of salvation. 



174 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

i. The teaching of the apostles, who were in- 
structed by their divine Master, and, consequently, 
must have understood their business, was all tradition, 
until some of them wrote some things. Consequently, 
tradition antedates the gospel of Christ. No doubt, 
Christ taught the apostles many things during the forty 
days between his resurrection and his ascension into 
heaven, but there is scarcely any thing recorded in the 
Bible about those teachings. 

2. Which is of greater authority, the Bible or tradi- 
tion? They are of equal authority, because both are 
divine. The Bible is divine by inspiration of the holy 
Spirit, and tradition is divine by the guidance of that 
same holy Spirit, because he guides his holy Catholic 
Church, as Christ, her divine Founder promised. 

3. "The Bible is the only guide, the only rule of 
faith. " That is Catholic doctrine exactly, if you 
understand it correctly; for the Bible says, that we 
must accept, also, the authority of tradition, for Jesus 
himself said ; "I have yet many things to tell you, but 
you cannot bear them now ; but, when the Spirit of 
truth hath come, he will teach you all truth." (Jo. 16, 
12.) But the Bible records very little, of what he 
taught himself for forty days after his resurrection 
until his ascension, nor does it say any thing, of what 
the holy Spirit taught the apostles. Saint John says: 
"Jesus did and said many things, which are not re- 
corded, and if recorded, the world would not contain 
the books." (21, 25.) Those "many things" were 
taught by word of mouth, and that is tradition. Saint 
Paul says: "Hold fast to the traditions, which you 
have learned." (Thes. 2, 14.) Consequently, it is 
clear, that the Bible teaches, that we must, also, believe 
undoubtingly as true, what tradition teaches. The 



DIVINE TRADITION 175 

early Fathers, the learned popes, bishops, priests, in 
the first few centuries wrote down all those things, 
which were handed over to them from the apostles and 
their disciples by tradition; so that every thing, what 
was purely oral teaching then, is written tradition now, 
and, consequently, is brought down to conciseness and 
definiteness, to a clea r n, clearcut science. There is 
nothing vague about it; no guess-work about it; no 
wild speculating views, or silly opinionating about it. 
No one in the Catholic Church at the present time is at 
a loss to know, what is contained in tradition. It is 
Christ's teaching of the Bible in its full sense. 

4. Does the Bible say: "Read the Scripture and 
pick out your own religion ?" No, indeed ; but it does 
say ; "faith comes by hearing. But how can any one 
hear, unless there be some one to teach him ?" 

5. What are the Scriptures else, but inspired tradi- 
tion written down? The Bibl.e does not say, it is the 
inspired Word of God. Tradition says that. The 
Bible does not say, it consists of seventy-two books. 
Tradition says that. The Bible does not say to keep 
the Sunday holy. Tradition says that. All the world 
believes in tradition; even those, who are strangely 
opposed to the Catholic religious tradition, believe by 
tradition the thousand and one falsehoods against the 
Catholic faith, religion, Church, her clergy and her 
people. Consequently, the only safe rule of faith ac- 
cording to the Bible is twofold : I ) holy Scripture, 
2) holy Tradition, as both are found in the Catholic 
Church. They are two in one ; two means under one 
divine guidance, just as the two of diamonds is two 
in one, two diamond-spots in one card. It is all from 
the Bible, and the Catholic Church teaches it all. Do 
you believe it all? If so, you are in so far a Catholic. 



176 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

CHAPTER XL 



How Faith is Obtained. 

i. God has an undeniable right to dictate to men, 
what they are to believe, do and avoid, and how he 
wishes to be served by them, and by whom they are to 
be instructed and guided in these obligations. He can- 
not be called to account by them for doing so. Now, 
in order to be saved, as is clear from the Bible, it is 
absolutely necessary, that we believe all, what God has 
revealed and what he continually proposes to us to be 
believed through his divinely constituted holy Catholic 
Church. This does not mean, that the Catholic Church 
teaches, that all non-Catholics go to hell, nor do Catho- 
lics believe that. All those, who are in good faith and 
do the best, they know how, belong to the spirit, if 
not to the body, of the true Church of Christ. Those, 
who know, that the Catholic Church is the true Church 
of Christ, must, also, affiliate themselves to her body 
and must conform both spiritually, mentally, wilfully 
and externally to her teachings. This surely is very 
reasonable. 

2. God wants all men to be saved. His ways are 
wonderful. He has in divers and extraordinary ways 
brought people to the true knowledge of his true faith, 
religion and Church and he may do so again; but the 
claims of those, who say, that they have received spe- 
* cial manifestation from God, are not to be lightly cred- 
ited, but it must be proven by them beyond all doubt, 
and their saying-so is no proof in this case. God has 
left no vagueness about this all-important matter. He 
has appointed ordinary means for obtaining faith. He 
has done his part by making his will known to men by 
his divine revelation, as is laid down in the Bible and 



HOW TO OBTAIN FAITH? 177 

deposited in the Tradition of his holy Catholic Church. 
The ordinary, by God appointed way of obtaining the 
knowledge of the true faith, is through the preaching 
of those truths of the Bible and Tradition, and, conse- 
quently, by the hearing of some one else. That is clear 
from his own command to his apostles to preach all, 
what he had taught them, and Saint Paul builds his 
saying on that of Christ : "Faith comes through hear- 
ing." Instructions, consequently, by the divinely ap- 
pointed teachers, parents, priests, and teachers in the 
home, school, and church, is the ordinary way of com- 
ing to definite knowledge of the truths of faith. But 
the knowledge of the truths of faith is not faith itself. 
3. How do we obtain faith itself? God has not 
left us at sea here either. There is no vagueness, no 
guess-work, about the means of obtaining it. God 
infuses into the soul the divine virtue of faith through 
the holy sacrament of baptism. It is God's means for 
doing so ; therefore, it always obtains its intended and 
desired effect with absolute certainty. Consequently, 
faith cannot be bought, nor inherited, nor learned by 
mere book knowledge. It is not necessary to experi- 
ence that divine virtue of faith through the senses of 
the body ; for faith is not a matter of sentimentality. It 
may be so and very frequently is to some degree. This 
divine virtue of faith is in the soul like a tender, but 
healthy, plant in the soil. A plant needs light, warmth, 
nourishment. So does faith. It needs light, which is 
instruction; warmth, which is exhortation by words 
and example ; nourishment, which is the grace of God 
obtained by prayer, the sacraments and good works, 
in a word, the exercise of religion. All is just as clear, 
as daylight. There is nothing vague, nothing mysteri- 
ous about it. 



178 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

4. Why do some not obtain faith? Because they 
do not make use of those proper means, because they 
lack the good will, or both. Faith is a divine light. 
Some do not see natural light, because they do not 
come to it, or because their vision is obstructed. Thus 
for the same reason some do not see the light of faith, 
because they do not come to it, because they are not 
baptized, nor instructed, or because their sinful lives 
heave up dirt to obstruct the vision of their mental 
eyes. That is not God's fault, nor the fault of the 
Catholic faith, religion, Church. But God compels no 
one to accept faith, or practice faith. He only gives 
men the reward for active faith, and compels them to 
accept the punishment for no faith. 

5. Can faith be lost? It can and some do easily 
lose it. Why? 1) Because they are negligent in the 
exercise of their religious duties. Faith is a light in 
the soul. That a light, the lamp may burn, it is neces- 
sary to feed the light plenty new oil and to clean the 
lamp regularly, and the same things are necessary for 
the light of faith in the soul of man : feed it with good 
instruction, reading of the Bible and other good books, 
by prayer, the sacraments of penance and the holy 
Eucharist and by the attendance at public divine wor- 
ship; clean the soul by acts of contrition and by the 
sacrament of penance, which Christ has instituted for 
that purpose. Because some neglect these duties, the 
light of faith dies. Those, who have lost their faith, 
usually blame it on some one else ; but, if a lamp does 
not burn well, it is not the fault of other lamps. Con- 
sequently; it is not sufficient for salvation to once have 
obtained the divine virtue of faith in baptism, but it 
must, also, be nourished and professed openly at times. 
This does not mean that we must parade with it every- 



WHY FAITH IS LOST 179 

where. 2) Some lose their faith, because they lead 
vicious lives. Faith is light : sin is darkness. Light 
and darkness cannot be in the same place at the same 
time. Just so it is with faith. It cannot live in the 
soul, which continually, persistently, unrepentingly, 
serves sin. This does not mean, that every sin great 
or small, even an occasional gross sin, completely robs 
us of faith. No; but do get back to the light by 
sincere repentance quickly! Saint Peter says, that 
those, who were full of the lust of the flesh and im- 
purity, have lost the faith. It is not the good apple, 
that falls prematurely off the tree. It is the wormy 
one. 3) Some lose their faith, because they are ava- 
ricious. Saint Paul says : "The root of all evil is 
avarice; some, who have given themselves up to it, 
have lost their faith." Those, who pretend, that it 
costs too much to be a Catholic, that the priest wants 
nothing but money, come under this heading of ava- 
rice. Those, who never, or seldom, and then only give 
very little for religious purposes, say, it costs too much. 
They want to go to heaven without it costing them a 
cent. As long, as there are plenty such people, the 
devil will never be lonesome. 4) Some lose their faith, 
because they keep bad company. The royal psalmist 
David says : "With the holy thou shalt be holy ; with 
the perverse thou shalt be perverted." We can tell a 
man by the company he keeps. Birds of one feather 
flock together. If you associate continually with faith- 
less and vicious people, you will soon think, talk, de- 
sire and act as they do. It was so in heaven with the 
rebellious angels. If you put one bad apple into a 
barrel of good apples, before long the whole barrel of 
apples will be rotten. So it is with men. Others may 
not obtain faith for the same reasons. 5) Some lose 



180 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

their faith, because they read bad, irreligious books. 
Out of books we take food for the mind. If that food 
is not good and wholesome, it will soon poison the 
reader's mind. It will do so for any one, whether he 
wills it, or not, whether he believes it, or not. 6) Oth- 
ers lose their faith, because they are proud. Pride is i 
the beginning of all evil. It was so in heaven with the 
rebellious angels. They wanted to be more, than God 
made them. They wanted to be like God. It was so 
in paradise. Adam and Eve wanted to be something 
more, than God willed them to be. They wanted to be 
like God. Pride and faith are opposed to each other 
like darkness and light. Both cannot be in the same 
place at the same time. Beware of pride ! Humility 
is the foundation of all virtue. Beware of the loss of 
faith. For faith is absolutely necessary for salvation, 
as Saint Paul says : "Without faith it is impossible to 
please God." (Heb. n, 6.) Therefore, never deny 
your faith, neither in earnest, nor in appearance. 

Summing up all what has been said in Section I., 
you will perceive, that there is nothing difficult, nor 
vague, nor indefinite, no guess-work, nothing doubtful 
about the affair of the Catholic faith and the Catholic 
religion : There is a God who is the infinitely perfect 
Spirit ; he has created everything and every being ; he 
created man a rational, freewill being ; he has destined 
man for heaven; he himself has made his will known 
to man by his divine revelation, how we are to come 
into heaven; he himself has established the bond of 
religion between himself and man. To make sure, 
that man may know, what his will to man is and what 
his divine revelations are and what his religious bond 
is and what his religious teachings are, he has left the 
institution of his holy Catholic Church to teach, and 



SECOND ARTICLE OF CREED. SPADE ACE 181 

has sent the holy Spirit to guide and direct her in her 
teaching; and for obtaining faith he has left the means 
of the sacrament of baptism and, to feed it, the other 
; six sacraments. Consequently, there is full divine as- 
surance in everything. Catholics are not at sea ; nor 
doubting. God in his goodness cannot want man to be 
uncertain about faith, religion, church and all the great 
means of salvation. The Bible contains all, that is here 
said about the Catholic faith, religion, and the Catholic 
Church teaches it all and administers all those means 
of salvation. Can any religious system be more per- 
fect? Do you believe it all? If so, you are in so far 
a Catholic. 

SECTION II. 



Second Article of Apostle's Creed: "And in Jesus 
Christ, his only, Son our Lord/' 

CHAPTER I. 



Sin of Adam and Eve. Original Sin. Necessity of 
a Redeemer. 

In Section I. of Part III. we have seen the beauties 
represented by the heart cards and some of the pre- 
ciousness represented by the diamond cards. We are 
obliged to also consider some dark, black, truths, rep- 
resented by the black spades, namely, sin and its conse- 
quences. 

In the second article of apostle's creed we make 
profession of our faith in the second person of the 
most holy Trinity, who became man and our Re- 
deemer. We will understand the doctrine of the Bible 
and the teachings of the Catholic Church concerning 



182 



CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 



him better, if we know I ) why a Redeemer was neces- 
sary, and 2) how he was promised. 

I. Original Sin. 

Why was a Redeemer necessary. A redeemer was 
necessary on account of the sin of our first parents 

and on account of the con- 
sequences of that sin upon 
J^ them and upon their whole 

^ posterity. 

tj^ 1. What does the Bible 

say about that sin and its 
consequences? It says, that 
God created Adam and 
Eve, placed them in para- 
dise, where they were to 
live for a time and then 
were to be taken up into 
heaven ; but that they were 
not to have heaven with- 
out some meritorious 
work on their part; they 
were to show their obedi- 
ence and submission to God. Hence, He gave them 
a law : They were not to eat of the fruit of the 
tree of knowledge of good and evil; if they did eat 
of it, they were to die. (I. Mos. 2, 16.) It was an 
easy law for them to keep, for they had everything in 
abundance and they had no evil inclinations. But the 
devil hated the beautiful image of God in them and he 
was jealous of them, because they were destined to that 
heaven, which he by his pride had lost. He induced 
them to transgress that law ; they ate of the forbidden 
fruit and they died both a bodily and spiritual death. 




ORIGINAL SIX. SPADE SIX 183 

Spiritual death is represented by the black color of 
spade. The implement, spade, itself, represents the 
death of the body, for it is needed at the grave, to dig. 
They lost paradise. The earth was no longer subject 
to them. God cursed the earth and every thing in it 
on account of the sins of man, because it had borne 
men up in rebelling against God, and he had used one 
of his creatures, an apple, as the instrument to offend 
him with. Thus all things lost God's blessing, which 
he bestowed upon them at the creation. Animals be- 
came rebellious. Adam and Eve became subject to 
sufferings. They lost all preternatural gifts of the 
body and all supernatural gifts of the soul. Their 
mind became obscured and their will weakened. They 
were to die and to return to the dust of the earth, 
whence God had taken the body. They lost the right 
to heaven. Too great a punishment ! This was a sin, 
which nothing can excuse, i) It was a sin of haughty 
pride : They wanted to become something more, even 
by the eating of an apple, than Almighty God in his 
infinite goodness, wisdom and power had willed them 
to be. 2) It was a sin of the lowest gluttony, which 
drunkards imitate. 3) It was a sin of low desires, 4) 
of inexcusable curiosity, 5) of horrible infidelity, be- 
cause they believed the devil more, than God. 6) It 
was a sin of the basest ingratitude towards God. Thus 
their one sin in its sixfold blackness of guilt is repre- 
sented by the six of spades. 

Where did the trouble start ? Eve did not flee temp- 
tation, did not avoid the danger, did not keep out of 
the occasion of sin; she kept bad company with the 
devil. Hence, beware of bad company. "He that loves 
danger, shall perish therein. " (Ecc. 3, 26.) 



184 



CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 



2. Had the guilt and the effects of the sin of Adam 
and Eve died with them, it would have long been for- 
gotten ; but it did not. With both its guilt and all its 

evil effects it has come 
down upon each indi- 
vidual immediately at his 
creation of all the pos- 
terity of Adam and Eve. 
That is the reason, why it 
is called original sin, be- 
cause we inherit it from 
our first parents. The ace 
in the card-deck to a large 
extent includes all the 
others, for in most games 
it overpowers all others; 
just so did Adam, the one, 
the first man, include all 
others; just as the first 
acorn included all trees 
and all other acorns. If Adam would have remained 
faithful, all men would have shared in his fidelity. Just 
so they now share in his guilt. That is the reason, why 
his one sin is appropriately represented by the one-spot, 
ace of spades. (P. 197.) 

1) Jesus said: "Unless a man be born again of 
water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the 
kingdom of heaven. " (Jo. 3, 5.) What is the reason? 
Adam and Eve were to enter heaven without any such 
special regeneration. Why not we ? Think it over all 
you wish, you will find no valid reason, excepting, that 
every man is, in consequence of that sin of Adam and 
Eve, as their descendant, conceived and born in sin, 
and that is why we call it original sin. Children, who 




ORIGINAL SIN IN CHILDREN 185 

have not yet obtained the use of reason, are human be- 
ings, too. That is acknowledged the world over. Our 
Lord in his declaration of the necessity of regenera- 
tion makes no exception. The only difference between 
Adam and Eve and us in relation to that sin is, that 
they committed it personally, and we inherit it. The 
guilt and the effects of it are the same in all. (P. 329.) 

2) What our blessed Lord plainly teaches, Saint 
Paul, enlightened by the Holy Spirit, clearly explains, 
saying: "As through one man sin came into the 
world, and through sin death, thus death has come up- 
on all men, because all sinned in him (Adam)." (Rom. 
5, 12.) Human language can not be clearer, than these 
words of Saint Paul. The reason, why all men must 
die, is, because all have sinned in Adam. Saint Paul 
makes no exception. All do die, saints as well, as sin- 
ners; innocent children, too; consequently, all have 
sinned through Adam. How ? The only way possible, 
is, that all men inherit both the guilt and the effects of 
that sin of Adam and Eve. 

3) Saint Paul made it still clearer, and, as if he 
foreknew — the Holy Ghost, who inspired him to write 
it, did foreknow it — that many would try to deny this 
doctrine on original sin, said: "We were by nature 
children of wrath." (Eph. 2, 3.) We cannot be by 
nature children of the wrath of God, unless we are 
conceived and born in sin, and we cannot be conceived 
and born in sin, unless we inherit sin from our original 
parents, Adam and Eve. If we bear the effects of 
original sin with patience, they will be a source of merit 
for us in heaven. (P. 260.) 

II. Necessity of a Redeemer. 
1. One difference between the sin of the angels and 
that of Adam and Eve is this, that the angels sinned 



186 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

in and through themselves : Adam and Eve, however, 
were seduced by some one and something outside of 
themselves. Hence, appears their sorrow and repent- 
ance, and, consequently, they were capable of redemp- 
tion, which the angels are not, because they persevere 
in their rebellion against God. How could men be rec- 
onciled to God ? They themselves were helpless. Their 
intellect was darkened, and they forgot God, as we 
have seen in Part I. Their will was weakened, so that 
it was difficult for them to do the right thing even, after 
they had seen their duty. The debt of sin was on them, 
and this was infinite, and, consequently, beyond their 
power of satisfying. They were, consequently, all 
rushing toward the abode of him, whom Adam and 
Eve had believed more, than God, and who continued 
to lead men away from God. All would have landed 
in hell, if God in his infinite mercy had not promised 
and sent them a Redeemer. 

2. When God saw the repentance of Adam and 
Eve, he did not let them despair of obtaining heaven. 
He promised them a Redeemer, saying to the devil : 

i) "I will place enmity between thee and the 
Woman, and between thy seed and her seed ; she shall 
crush thy head." (I. Mos. 3, 15.) That woman is the 
Blessed Virgin Mary, who brought forth the Savior of 
the world. Those, who lived, before he came, were 
saved by the hope in the promised Redeemer and by 
keeping the commandments. Those, who live after 
him, are saved by the belief in the Redeemer who has 
come, and by believing everything, what God has re- 
vealed and what he teaches through his holy Catholic 
Church, and by keeping the commandments. 

2) To preserve a people, who would keep the true 
faith in him the true God, he destroyed the unbelievers 



SECOND ARTICLE OF CREED. REDEEMER NECESSARY 



187 



by the deluge and renewed his promises of a Redeemer 
to Noe and 

3) to Abraham: "In thee shall be blessed all gen- 
erations. " (I. Mos. 12, 3.), and 

4) to Jacob, who foretold, that the Savior would 
go forth from the tribe of his son, Juda. 

5) Moses was chosen by God to lead the Chosen 
People into the Land of Promise, where the promised 
Savior of the world was to be born. 

6) The prophets were 
enlightened to fortell the 
time of the Savior's com- 
ing, the place of his birth, 
of whom, the Blessed Vir- 
gin Mary, he was to be 
born, how he was to die, 
his resurrection, his as- 
cension, the coming down 
of the Holy Ghost, and 
the founding, spread and 
the duration of the Catho- 
lic Church until the end of 
time — six precious prom- 
ises of a Redeemer, of 
which the six of diamonds 
reminds us. 



1* 


> 

♦ 


♦ 


♦ 


♦ 


♦s 



188 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

CHAPTER II. 



Jesus Christ, Our Savior. Two Natures and Two 
Wills in Jesus Christ ; the Nature and Will of God 
and the Nature and Will of Man all in One Divine 
Person. Jesus Christ our Lord, our Lawgiver 
and Our Teacher. All Represented by the Two 
of Hearts. 

I. Sacred Name of Jesus. 

When the fulness of time had come, God did send 
mankind a Redeemer. Who is he? Jesus Christ. 
Who is he? Jesus Christ is the second person in the 
most holy Trinity, the eternal Son of God, made man 
and our blessed Lord. It is not sufficient to say : He 
is God; for the Father is God and the Holy Ghost is 
God ; but the truth, that he is both God and man, must 
be expressed, to fully tell, what he is. Jesus means 
Savior. Christ means anointed. In the Old Testa- 
ment the priests, prophets and kings were anointed, 
as a sign of divine appointment ; the same is done still 
at the ordination of a priest. This name, Christ, is as 
proper to our Savior, as Jesus, for he is in reality, 
Prophet of all prophets, Highpriest of all priests, King 
of all kings, and the two of hearts represents his two- 
fold name, and the king of hearts represents his office. 
The name Jesus was sent him by God the Father from 
high heaven by a special messenger, for the angel said 
to Joseph, the foster-father of Christ: "Mary shall 
bring forth a Son and thou shalt call his name, Jesus, 
for he will deliver his people from sin." (Mt. I, 21.) 

Oh, what a pity, that men so much misuse this holy 
name of Jesus ! "There is no other name under heav- 
en, in which men can be saved." (Act. 4, 12.) "In 



JESUS. HEART TWO 189 

the name of Jesus every knee shall bow." (Phil. 2, 9.) 
"Whatsoever you shall ask the Father in my name, he 
shall give you." (Jo. 16, 25.) Oh, let us honor his 
holy name! Call upon him in all needs, trials and 
temptations with piety and devotion and he will con- 
sole and help you. - 

II. Jesus Christ is true God and true Man. 

1. Jesus Christ is the true Son of God, therefore, 
true God himself. Why? Because he is the second 
person in the Blessed Trinity, generated by the Father 
from all eternity. Angels and men are sometimes 
called children of God in the Bible ; but they are God's 
children by God's grace. Jesus, however, is the true 
Son of God by divine nature, and, consequently, true 
God. There are some people, who want to be chris- 
tian, but deny the divinity of Christ. That is a contra- 
diction. 

2. What does the Bible say on the divinity of. 
Christ? 

1 ) "A child is born to us and his name is : Won- 
derful, Councilor, God." (Is. 9, 6.) "God himself 
will come and redeem you." (Is. 35, 4.) 

2) The archangel Gabriel said to Mary: "Thou 
shalt bring forth a Son, and he shall be called the Son 
of the most high." (Lu. 1, 31.) 

3) God, the Father, himself said: "This is my 
beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." (Mt. 3, 17.) 

4) Jesus himself said : "I and the Father are one." 
(Jo. 10, 30.) 

5) By the testimony of the evil spirits, who said: 
"Jesus, Son of God." (Mt. 8, 29.) 

6) Testimony of nature: A star announced his 
birth ; the waters bore him up ; wind and waves obeyed 



190 



CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 



him; the sun mourned and the earth trembled at his 
death. 

7) Testimony of the apostles, who clearly preached 
Christ as true God. "Thou art the Son of the living 
God." (Mt. 16, 16.) 

8) Testimony of the Catholic Church, which has 
ever considered the doctrine of the divinity of Jesus 
Christ one of her fundamental teachings. Eight pre- 
cious testimonies, proving 
the divinity of Christ, of 
which we are reminded by 
the eight of hearts, be- 
cause they are all inspired 
by love for Jesus, as true 
God. 

2. Jesus Christ is not 
only true God, but, also, 
true man. As God he 
could not suffer and die 
for us and redeem us. 
Hence, he assumed a hu- 
man body and a human 
soul like ours. What does 
the Bible say about this 
truth ? 

a) 1) " Jesus Christ was like man and externally 
found as a man." (Phil. 2, 7.) 2) He often called 
himself "the Son of man." 3) He really had all the 
needs of the body. He wept ; he suffered from hunger 
and thirst; he did really endure the pains of death. 
"He carried our sins on his own body on the cross." 
(I. Pet. 2, 24.) 

b) Jesus Christ did not only have a true human 
body, but, also, a true human soul. He himself said: 




SECOND ARTICLE OF CREED. HEART TWO 191 

i) "My soul is sorrowful unto death;" (Mt. 26, 38.) 
2) "Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit :" (Lu. 
23, 46.) 3) "He bowed his head and gave up his 
ghost." (Jo. 19, 30.) Consequently, the Bible clearly 
teaches, that Jesus Christ is true God and true man. 

III. Two Natures in Jesus Christ. 

1. Jesus Christ was God from all eternity. Man 
he became in time, but he remained God just the same. 
This doctrine plainly teaches, too, that there are two 
natures in Christ: the divine nature and the human 
nature. Neither one is absorbed by the other. It 
could not be : for the divine nature cannot change into 
the human nature, for God is unchangeable; neither 
can the human nature change into the divine nature, 
for man cannot become God; nor are the divine and 
the human natures in Christ blended together in such 
a way, as to form another, a third nature, for then he 
would be neither God, nor man. 

2. From this it follows, that there are, also, two 
wills in Jesus Christ : The divine will and the human 
will ; for free-will is a necessary quality of man as well, 
as of God ; but in his human will there was no rebellion 
against his divine will. They were constantly in per- 
fect harmony. 

IV. There is Only One, the Divine, Person, in 
Jesus Christ. 

A person is a rational being, which thinks and acts 
for himself. Every human being is a person. His 
human body and soul constitute his human person. 
The body separated from his soul is a corpse ; the soul 
separated from his body is a spirit. The highest part 
is his soul. It thinks and vivifies the body. The two 



192 



CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 



are entirely different. Each has its own nature, yet, 
the two together are only one person. Just so the 
divine and the human nature in Christ constitute only 
one person. Why? The divine person, the second 

person in the blessed Trin- 
ity, in becoming man, did 
not unite himself to a 
M ^ human person, but to hu- 

man nature and, in assum- 
ing human nature, did not 
cease to be the divine per- 
son of the Son of God. 
Hence, there is only one 
person in Jesus Christ, 
and that is the divine per- 
son. Herein lies the rea- 
son, why, also, the human 
actions of Christ were di- 
vine, because it is the per- 
son from whom actions 
proceed. Herein, too, lies 
the reason of our redemption. If there were a human 
person in Christ, it would have been that human person, 
who had suffered, and, consequently, there would have 
been only a human, finite, satisfaction for our sins, 
which would not have been sufficient for our redemp- 
tion; but it was the divine person, that suffered and 
died for our sins, not through a human person, but 
through human nature, and this is the reason, why his 
suffering and death gave infinite satisfaction for the 
infinite offense of the sins of men to the infinite majes- 
ty of God. It must be so. It cannot be otherwise. It 
is very simple. Just as simple, as the two of hearts. 
The two of hearts is one card, representing the one 




SECOND ARTICLE OF CREED 193 

divine person. It is the second card in hearts, repre- 
senting the second person in the blessed Trinity. There 
are two spots in the one card, representing the two 
natures in Christ, the divine and the human, and the 
two wills in Christ, the divine and the human, and the 
two kinds of actions in Christ, the divine and the 
human; yet all proceeding from one and the same 
divine person, Jesus Christ, and all is here represented 
by the card and color of love, because all is out of 
God's love for man. 

V. Jesus Christ, Our Lord, Lawgiver and 
Teacher. 

i. Jesus Christ is our Lord. Why? i) Because 
he is our God, and we are his creatures. Though he 
appeared on earth in humble human nature, in his 
person he remains, nevertheless, the supreme Lord and 
Master, Creator of heaven and earth, and, consequent- 
ly, our Creator and our Lord, and we his creatures, his 
property and his servants. 2) Jesus Christ is our 
Lord, because he is our Redeemer, and we are his re- 
deemed out of the spiritual slavery of the devil. 3) 
Jesus Christ is our Lord, because he is our Judge, and 
we are the ones to be judged. 

2. Jesus Christ is our Law-giver. He re-incul- 
cated all the moral and dogmatic laws of the Old Tes- 
tament and taught his own new law and then he 
founded, organized and equipped his holy Catholic 
Church and has her guided by the Holy Ghost, to tell 
us with unerring certainty, what all that law is, so that 
we might not be in doubt about his divine will and 
about our duty and about the exact meaning of his 
law. 



194 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

CHAPTER III. 



Third Article of the Apostle's Creed: "Who was 
conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin 
Mary." Incarnation of Jesus Christ. Miracles 
in His Person. Life of Christ. Miracles in His 
Mother. Queens of Hearts and Diamonds. 

In the instruction on the second article of our Cath- 
olic creed we have seen, who Jesus Christ is and why 
he came on earth. In the third article we will see how, 
when and where he came. 

I. How did Jesus Christ become man? By the co- 
operation of the Holy Ghost, not like the rest of man- 
kind, not from the seed of man. This is the mystery of 
the Incarnation, which is surrounded by miracles. 
1. Miracles in the person of Christ. 

What does the Bible say about the Incarnation of 
Christ? God sent one of his highest archangels from 
high heaven with this wonderful message to the Blessed 
Virgin Mary, while she was kneeling in prayer in her 
humble home at Nazareth : "The Holy Ghost shall 
come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall 
overshadow thee." (Lu. i, 35.) In heaven the eter- 
nal Son of God was generated by the Father from all 
eternity without a mother : On earth he was con- 
ceived by the Holy Ghost and became man in the 
chaste womb of his Virgin Mother without a human 
father. Saint Joseph was only the pious foster-father, 
guardian, provider, breadwinner, protector of the 
Blessed Virgin Mary and her divine Child. He never 
cohabited with Mary. This does not mean, nor say, 
that the Holy Ghost became the father of Christ, for he 
did not generate him, but only formed his human body 
out of the nature of the Virgin Mary. There was 



THIRD ARTICLE OF CREED 195 

absolutely no lust, no passion in this mystery of the 
incarnation of Christ, but all was the purest, truest, 
divine power and love for the redemption of sinful 
man. At that very moment, when the Blessed Virgin 
Mary consented to become in all humility the mother 
of our blessed Savior; God created the human soul of 
Christ, and the divine person was immediately united 
with his human body and soul. It is all true. We 
cannot doubt it. It is one of those great fundamental 
truths, which we must believe, in order to be saved. 
We believe it, because the Bible clearly says so. What 
infinite humility the eternal Son of God underwent for 
the sake of our redemption ! That is the reason, why 
he is represented by the jack of hearts, the humble 
servant of man out of love for our salvation. 

2. Miracles in the person of Mary, the Mother 
of Jesus. 

What does the Bible say? 

I. The Bible is particular in telling us, that the 
name of that Virgin was Mary. There is nothing by 
chance in the Bible. Every word there, is there, be- 
cause the Holy Ghost inspired the writers to put it 
there. 

a) Mary, in Hebrew Mirjam, Latin Maria, mean- 
ing Lady, Queen, Hope, because she was to become the 
mother of Him, who is the Lord, King of heaven and 
earth and who was the hope of the whole world. 

b) Mary means, Pearl of the Sea, because she 
brought forth an immortal diamond, Jesus, into the 
stormy sea of this world, which purchased redemption 
and peace for it, 

c) Mary means, the Enlightened, because she her- 
self was enlightened by her divine Son and through 
him she enlightened the entire world. 



196 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

d) Mary means, Star of the Sea, because she is 
that star, that was to go out of Jacob, and who by the 
brightness and purity of her life and examples of vir- 
tue shines like a star over this earth. Since the name 
of Mary is so wonderful, great and significant in its 
meaning, how much greater, mysterious and wondrous 
must the privileges of her be, to whom it belongs. 

2. God adorned her beautiful soul with his most 
precious gifts and graces, in order to make her worthy 
to become his own divine mother. 

i) The first great grace, which Almighty God be- 
stowed upon her, is her Immaculate Conception. It is 
clear from the Bible, as we have seen on the doctrine 
of original sin, that every man is conceived and born 
in that sin, original sin, which we inherit from our first 
parents, Adam and Eve. It is prudently said, that 
every rule has at least one exception. So here this one, 
that all men are conceived and born in original sin. 
That exception is the Blessed Virgin Mary, which is 
called the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Vir- 
gin Mary. What does it mean? a) It does not mean, 
that the Blessed Virgin Mary never committed any 
actual sin; that is called her sinlessness. What is the 
difference between her sinlessness and the sinlessness 
of her divine Son Jesus ? Jesus was sinless by nature : 
Mary, his divine Mother, was sinless by divine grace, 
b) Neither does the Immaculate Conception mean, 
that the Blessed Virgin Mary conceived her divine Son 
in an immaculate manner in her own womb ; that con- 
ception of her divine Son was immaculate, certainly; 
but that is a different mystery, called the Incarnation 
of Jesus Christ, c) Neither does it mean, that she had 
no other children. She had none; that is absolutely 
certain. Those, who claim, that she did have other 



THIRD ARTICLE OF CREED. B. V. MARY 197 

children, because the Bible speaks of brothers of 
Christ, do not read the Bible right; for the Hebrew 
word used there is inaptly translated by the word 
"brother" ; for it means, cousin, a near relative, d) 
Neither does the Immaculate Conception mean, that 
she was conceived in a miraculous manner. She was 
conceived in the natural way, as all other human be- 
ings. Jesus alone was conceived in a supernatural 
way. e) The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed 
Virgin Mary means this, that at the moment of her 
conception in the womb of her own mother, Saint Anna, 
from her father, Saint Joachim, when Almighty God 
at that very moment of her conception created, her 
immortal soul, God did by a miracle of his divine 
power, grace and goodness keep her soul free from 
that stain of original sin, which we inherit from our 
first parents, Adam and Eve, and in which every one 
is conceived and born. 

What does the Bible say about this doctrine? 

a) When God promised a Redeemer to Adam, he 
foretold, that the Mother of the Redeemer would 
crush the head of the serpent-devil. This would not 
be true, if Mary had been conceived in sin, for then 
she would have been under the power of the devil, in- 
stead of the devil under her power. 

b) The words of the Canticle, 4/7 "Thou art all 
fair and there is no spot in thee", refer to Mary. If 
the Holy Ghost could inspire the writer to say, there 
was no spot in Mary, she cannot have been conceived 
in sin. This was a great miracle in the person of Mary, 
not due to herself, but it was only a privilege, with 
which God blessed her for the sake of Jesus Christ. 

2. The second great grace, which God bestowed 
upon her, was, that he made her really his own divine 



198 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

mother. We truly call her our mother, who conceived 
and gave us birth, though she did not conceive our 
soul, but only our body. Just so truly is Mary the 
mother of God, though she did not conceive his divin- 
ity, but only gave him his humanity. 

What does the Bible say on this doctrine? a) The 
archangel Gabriel sent by God from heaven said to 
her : "Thou shalt conceive and bring forth a son ; 
he shall be called the Son of the Most High." (Lu. i, 
31.) Can human language call her plainer, mother! 
b) "How is it, that the mother of my Lord cometh to 
me." (Lu. 1, 43.) , said Saint Elizabeth, inspired by 
the Holy Ghost, to Mary, c) Saint Paul, who always 
explains things, says, that God sent his Son, formed 
of a woman. (Gal. 4, 4.) What miracles of God's 
power, wisdom and grace ! Mary, a creature of God, 
is the mother of God, consequently, the mother of her 
own Creator. She bore him in her chaste womb, and 
carried him in her arms, who holds heaven and earth 
in the palm of his hands. She gave terrestrial exist- 
ence to him, from whom all things and beings have 
their existence. She nourished him, who feeds all. 
She commanded him, whom all angels obey. To her 
was subject he, to whom all things and beings are sub- 
ject. Oh, miracles upon miracles in the person of 
Mary, the Mother of God. 

3) Mary always remained a real, pure, spotless 
virgin in spite of her true motherhood. This is a doc- 
trine of the Catholic Church, founded upon the Bible. 

What does the Bible say? a) "A Virgin shall con- 
ceive and bring forth a son." Isaias, inspired by the 
Holy Ghost, foretold this miracle, b) Saint Luke ex- 
pressly called her "a virgin", c) Mary herself an- 
swered the archangel Gabriel: "I know not man." 



B. V. MARY. HEART AND DIAMOND QUEENS 199 

All clearly prove, that Mary was a virgin, before, at 
and after the birth of her Son, Jesus. By all these 
wonderful miracles of divine grace in her own person, 
God has elevated her far above all men and angels. 
That is the reason, why in the card-deck she is aptly 
represented by both the queen of hearts and the queen 
of diamonds. Heart is a symbol of Jove. Mary 
is truly the queen of hearts, the queen of love; 
for all those inexpressible privileges, which God, the 
Father, showered upon her, he gave her out of pure 
love for his divine Son and out of love for her, as his 
own true mother, and out of love for all mankind. 
Diamond is the symbol of all preciousness. Thus 
Mary is truly the queen of diamonds, for she received 
the most precious gifts and graces from God, which 
made her most precious in the sight of God, angels and 
men, and she brought forth, as her true son, him, who 
is infinitely precious in his divine nature, in all his 
infinite attributes, and infinitely precious for the re- 
demption of mankind. 

4) Simeon had prophesied, that a sword would 
pierce Mary's heart. Her whole life was a life of sor- 
row, foreknowing, how her divine Son was to be 
treated and put to death. She suffered all his excruci- 
ating pains with him, as any loving mother would suf- 
fer with her son. That is the reason, why she is, also, 
represented by the queen of clubs, the queen of sorrows. 

3. Veneration of Mary. 

In her great solemnities the Catholic Church unites 
the veneration, not adoration (as Catholics are often 
slandered) of the Blessed Virgin Mary Mother of 
God to the adoration of Christ.' From this union of 



200 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

adoration and veneration we are to learn, that the two, 
Jesus and Mary, must not be separated in our love. 

It has been said, that there is no foundation in the 
Bible for this religious practice, and that Mary is not 
mentioned in the Bible. Let us not answer this ques- 
tion hastily, but let us examine the holy Scriptures 
and see, what there is to it. While we are doing so, 
let us bear in mind, that in the Catholic Church we 
adore Jesus Christ, as the true Son of God and our 
Savior and we only venerate and honor the angels and 
saints, as God's special friends and above all of them 
the Blessed Virgin Mary, because we believe, that we 
cannot well honor the Son and despise and leave 
unnoticed his divine Mother. What would the son 
of a president of the United States think of your hon- 
ors to him, if you despised his mother, or even left her 
unnoticed? The honor, you would show her, would 
redound on him. Just so, it is in religious affairs. 
No one ever loved and honored his mother, as did 
Jesus, as is very clear from the great graces and privi- 
leges, with which he adorned her, and the greatest 
miracles he wrought for her sake. 

What does the Bible say? 

i- Turn to the first chapter in it. Fresh in your 
memory are all the great biblical truths, that God cre- 
ated heaven and earth and all things in both; that he 
created man according to his own image; that he de- 
stined man to eternal happiness ; that man by sin lost 
his right to heaven and deserved everlasting punish- 
ment of hell; but that Almighty God in his infinite 
mercy right there, in paradise, promised Adam and 
through him his entire posterity a Redeemer, saying to 
the devil, who had seduced Adam and Eve: "I will 
place enmity between thee and the WOMAN, and 



VENERATION OF MARY 201 

she shall crush thy head." That woman, that God 
there prophesied about, was none other, than Mary, 
the Mother of God, who crushed the devil's power by 
the redemption of her divine Son. It is the first men- 
tioning of a redeemer, and Mary is mentioned, too, 
and that was over 4,000 years, before the Redeemer 
came. Consequently, God himself in the very first 
chapter of the Bible mentions Mary by foretelling the 
office, she was to fulfil in the work of the redemption. 
It is wrong to translate "and 'it' (seed) shall crush thy 
head." Those, who maintain that, show their ignorance 
of Hebrew, in which the pronoun "she" is used, 
not "it". 

2. Recall the history of Noe and the deluge. Why 
did God destroy the earth ? For the past, because men 
were wicked; but for the future, in order to prepare 
for himself a people, from whom he might produce 
Mary, who would bring forth the Savior, Jesus Christ. 
God did it. Consequently, he had Mary in his mind 
at that time, and, consequently, the whole history of 
Noe and the deluge refers to her. 

3. Recall the history of Abraham. Abraham is a 
figure of God, the Father, and Isaac a figure of the 
Son of God, and Sarah was a figure of Mary. Abra- 
ham was willing to offer his son, as God really did 
offer his Son. The offering up of Jesus, however, can 
not be thought of without Mary. Consequently, Mary 
was in God's mind at the time, when God made those 
great promises to Abraham. 

4. Recall the history of Jacob. God renewed the 
promises of a redeemer to him and the Holy Ghost 
enlightened him to foretell, that the promised Savior 
would come forth from the tribe of his own son, Juda, 
and, consequently, the Mother of the Savior. Conse- 



202 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

quently, God induced Jacob to prophesy about Mary 
thousands of years, before it pleased God for her to 
come. 

5. Jochabed, the mother of Moses was a prefigure 
of Mary. Jochabed saved her son from the cruel 
hands of king Pharao, that he might save the Chosen 
People of God and lead them into the Land of Prom- 
ise, so that from them might go forth she, Mary, who 
would bring forth the promised Savior. Mary saved 
her Son from the cruel hands of king Herod. God 
directed it all, so that he might produce some one, who 
would be the worthy mother of his only begotten Son. 
Consequently, God prepared for Mary. 

6. As the time for the Savior to come drew closer, 
the prophecies became more explicit. The prophet 
Isaias says : "Listen, O, house of David ! God him- 
self will give you a sign." What would that sign be? 
This : "A Virgin shall conceive and bring forth a son, 
and his name shall be God-with-us." (7, 14.) Can 
anything be plainer? Can any one mistake here the 
Mother of Jesus in that Virgin ? God himself enlight- 
ened the great prophet to foretell it. God spoke of 
Mary hundreds of years, before she was born. 

7. Read the same prophet Isaias further. He said : 
"A Son is born to us and he is called God." (9, 6.) 
That is the Savior. Born of whom? Of the Blessed 
Virgin Mary. 

Those seven predictions concerning Mary in the 
Old Testament are very precious. They are precious 
diamonds in her honor. That is the reason, why the 
seven of diamonds of the card-deck is appropriately 
set apart to remember them by. 

What does the New Testament say? 



B. V. MARY. DIAMOND SEVEN 



203 



1. At the end of the Old and at the beginning of 
the New Testament "God sent the archangel Gabriel 
to the city of Nazareth, to a Virgin, whose name was 
Mary," and God com- 
manded that angel to say 
to her: "Hail, full of 
grace; the Lord is with 
thee; blessed art thou 
among women." Neither 
angel nor man did God 
ever honor with such a 
message. And Mary not 
mentioned in the Scrip- 
ture ! ? She was men- 
tioned again and again 
thousands of years be- 
fore Scripture was writ- 
ten. Listen to the angel 
further: "Thou shalt bring 
forth a son and thou shalt 
call his name, Jesus, and he shall be called the Son of 
the Most High, and of his reign there shall be no end." 
It is the same, as in plain language to call her "Mother 
of God". No angel has received such unspeakable 
honor. She it was, who gave her child«that name, Jesus, 
in whom all nations are blessed and in whom alone is 
salvation. Consequently, you cannot mention Jesus 
without being reminded of his Mother Mary, and every 
time of the 769 times, that the Bibl6 mentions Jesus, 
you should read between the lines the name of Mary. 

2. Mary in all her beautiful humility answered the 
angel: "Behold, I am a handmaid of the Lord." And 
a little later when she went to visit her cousin, Eliza- 
beth, she said : "Behold, from now on all generations 




204 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

shall call me blessed." -As Mary is the grandest person 
prophecied about next to her divine Son, just so this is 
the grandest prophecy of any on record in the Bible 
next to those of her divine Son ; but, unless we in the 
Catholic Church did honor Mary and bless her sacred 
name, as we do, this prophecy would not have become 
true. There are three generations in a century. Three 
times 1900 years make 5,700 generations, since Mary 
made that prophecy. In one hundred years the gener- 
ation of one family multiplies to 1,000,000, and thus 
countless generations have and do call her blessed. 
Mary's praises have resounded through 1900 years in 
all countries, nations, islands, cities, towns and vil- 
lages; upon all the oceans and large rivers of this 
world ; over all the hills, mountains, valleys and plains 
her name has been pronounced with a blessing. Lit- 
tle, dimple-cheeked, babes in the cradle have sung 
their sweet lullabies to her. Old men and women in 
hoary voices have called her blessed. Thousands of 
the brightest young men have dedicated their lives to 
the service of her divine Son in the holy priesthood, 
and thousands of pure maidens have dedicated their 
lives to her in the cloister. Kings and queens have 
erected magnificent churches in her honor, and count- 
less myriads of angels have sung her praises as their 
queen in heaven. And Mary not mentioned in the 
Bible!? Mary was mentioned in heaven, before any 
Bible was written. 

3. Before the apostles started to go out into the 
whole world to carry out the command of Christ, to 
preach the gospel to the nations all, they drew a brief 
summary of faith, of everything, that their divine 
Master had taught them. They found it impossible 
to do so without Mary's name. So great a part 



MARY'S VENERATION. DIAMOND THREE 



205 



she had in the redemption of her divine Son. 
They found, that Mary's name is intimately inter- 
woven with that of God, the Father and of the Son 
and of the Holy Ghost. As the apostle's creed is 
founded upon the truths in the Bible, so is the devo- 
tion and veneration of Mary clearly sanctioned by the 
Bible and the Bible says, that all generations shall call 
her blessed. Thus there are three bright passages 
taken from the New Testament, to justify most abun- 
dantly our veneration<of Mary, as bright, as the dia- 
mond in the three of dia- 
monds in the card-deck. 

Summing up the many 
passages in the Bible re- 
ferring to Mary, we per- 
ceive : 

i. — that Noe was called 
by God to save his own 
family.; but God awoke no 
prophet to foretell any 
thing about it: but of 
Mary's work he did in- 
spire prophets. 

2. — God called Jacob 
and Joseph to save their 
own tribe ; but God awoke 
no prophet to foretell any 
thing about it: but of Mary's work he did inspire 
prophets ; 

3. — God awoke Moses, to save a nation; but he 
awoke no prophet to foretell any thing about it : but of 
Mary's work he did, and rightly so, for Mary was 
called by God from the beginning of mankind, not to 




206 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

save only a family, not to save only a tribe, not to save 
only a nation, but all mankind from the slavery of 
satan and eternal damnation through her divine Son, 
the Savior, Jesus Christ; 

4. — when God selected Noe, to preserve the true 
faith in him, the true God, Mary was in his mind ; 

5. — when God made those great promises to Abra- 
ham, to make his posterity more numerous, than the 
sands upon the seashore, Mary was in his mind ; 

6. — when God ordered Moses to lead his Chosen 
People out of the Egyptian bondage into the Land of 
Promise, Mary was in his mind; 

7. — when God inspired prophets to foretell the com- 
ing, the birth, the death, the resurrection of her divine 
Son, Jesus, Mary was in his mind ; 

8. — when God called the archangel Gabriel in heaven 
and gave him that wonderful message, Mary was in 
his mind ; 

9. — when the Son of God became man at Nazareth, 
Mary was there ; 

10. — when the Savior was born in the stable of 
Bethlehem, Mary was there; 

11. — when angels announced the object of his com- 
ing, singing "Glory to God on high and on earth peace 
to men of good will," Mary heard it; 

12. — when the shepherds came to adore the new 
born Savior, Mary was there ; 

13. — when he was circumcised and shed his first 
blood for our redemption, Mary was there ; 

14. — when the Magi came from the far East to 
adore the new born Savior, Mary was there ; 

15. — when Simeon prophecied about Jesus, that he 
would be set up for the rise and fall of many in Israel, 
Mary was there; 



I 



BIBLE ON MARY 207 



16. — when the Child was presented in the temple, 
Mary was there ; she did it ; 

17. — when king Herod ordered the death of the 
children under two years of age, and an angel warned 
Joseph of that fact, Mary was there ; 

18. — on all the flight into Egypt, she carried the 
!! Child and nursed him;, 

19. — when king Herod was dead, and they returned 
,) to Nazareth, Mary was there; 

20. — when Jesus was, twelve years old and he went 
|| to the temple, where he taught the doctors, Mary was 
I there; 

21. — when he performed his first public miracle, he 
did so upon the request of Mary, and Mary was there ; 

22. — when he preached his first great sermon on the 
mount, Mary was there ; 

23. — when he healed the sick, the lame, deaf and 
dumb, Mary was there; 

24. — when he miraculously multiplied bread and fish 
to feed thousands, Mary was there ; 

25. — when he commanded his apostles to go out and 
preach his gospel in the whole world, Mary was there ; 
that is one reason, why she is called "Queen of Apos- 
tles"; 

26. — many times, when he upbraided the pharisees 
for their pride and hardness of heart, Mary was there ; 

27. — when they reviled him, Mary was there; 

28. — when they condemned him to death, Mary was 
there ; 

29. — when they spat upon his sacred face, that she 
had so often washed, kissed and caressed, Mary was 
there ; 

30. — when the Jewish rabble yelled : "Crucify him ! 
crucify him !" Mary heard it ; 



208 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

31. — when they placed the crown of cruel thorns 
upon his sacred head, which she had stroked so often, 
Mary was there ; 

32. — when they scourged him at the pillar, Mary was 
there ; 

33. — when they placed the cross on his shoulders, 
Mary was there ; 

34. — when he fell under the heavy weight of the 
cross, Mary was there ; 

35. — when they nailed him to the cross, Mary was 
there ; she heard every stroke of the hammer ; 

36. — when they tore off his garments, Mary was 
there ; 

37. — when they raised him up on the cross, Mary 
was there ; 

38. — when they mocked him and vomited out insult- 
ing language against him, Mary heard it; 

39. — when they gave him vinegar and gall to drink, 
Mary saw it; 

40. — when he pardoned the penitent thief on the 
cross, Mary heard it ; 

41. — when he forgave his enemies, Mary heard it; 

42. — when he spoke seven times from the cross, 
Mary heard every word ; 

43. — when his arms, that she had loved so well, were 
extended on the cross, as if to embrace all the world, 
Mary saw it ; 

44. — when he died on the cross, Mary was there ; 
Oh, how her heart must have bled ! 

45. — when he commended his soul to his heavenly 
Father, Mary heard it ; 

46. — when his heart was pierced with a lance and 
blood and water flowed forth, Mary saw it ; 



BIBLE AND MARY 209 

47. — when he was taken down from the cross, he 
was laid in her bosom, where he had rested so many 
times in peaceful sleep, and she had caressed and 
kissed him, as she did now ; 

48. — when he was laid in the tomb, Mary was there ; 
Oh, what wishful looks she must have cast upon that 
monument, where her, Jesus, her all, lay entombed; 

49. — when he had arisen on the glorious Easter Day, 
Mary was at the grave ; 

50. — during the forty days, while he taught the apos- 
tles yet many things, Mary was there ; 

51. — when he ascended into heaven, whence he had 
come under her sacred heart, Mary was there; 

52. — when he sent the Holy Ghost, as he had prom- 
ised, on Pentecost, Mary was there. 

Enough ! Fifty-two times, once for each card in the 
card-deck, by which all the Bible and teachings of 
the Catholic Church are being illustrated in this book. 
A pious legend says, that Mary was fifty-two years of 
age, when her divine Son called her home. It is clear 
that the Bible cannot be read without Mary; for the 
Bible without Mary cannot be thought of from the 
first chapter to the last. There is no redemption with- 
out Mary, and, consequently, there is no saving faith, 
no true religion, no true church, without Mary. Oh! 
how is it possible, that men can deny her the honor, 
due her, as the Mother of God, when Almighty God 
himself and angels in heaven bestowed such great 
honor upon her ! What God has done is surely proper 
for our imitation. No creature has been so honored 
by God, as Mary. Oh ! Let us honor her, as God's 
true Mother ! All honor bestowed on her will not de- 
tract from the honor, due to God, but it will redound 
to God's greater honor and glory. It is all in the Bible 



210 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

and the Catholic Church teaches everything, that is in 
the Bible. Do you believe it all? If so, then you are 
in so far a Catholic. 

II. Birth of Jesus. 

I. Seven hundred years, before he came the proph- 
et Micheas foretold, that the promised Savior would be 
born at Bethehem, although his mother's home was at 
Nazareth. In the year of his birth the Roman emperor 
ordered a census to be taken up. Census at that time 
was not taken by a census-taker, as now. Every one 
had to go to the place, whence his forefathers were. 
Mary and Joseph were of the royal family of David, 
who was born at Bethlehem. Hence, in obedience to 
the command of the temporal ruler, they went to Beth- 
lehem. On account of the census enumeration, Bethle- 
hem was overcrowded. They could not find any lodg- 
ing in it. They took refuge for the night in a cave- 
stable outside of the village. The people of Bethlehem 
did not know Mary and Joseph nor our blessed Lord, 
whom she bore; but millions now, who do know of 
them, refuse to acknowledge them. Mary and Joseph 
were not discouraged, but relied on divine Providence, 
for they were doing their duty. The time of Mary's 
delivery had come, and on December 25 she brought 
forth the Savior of the world, him after whom millions 
had longed, whom God and divinely enlightened 
prophets had foretold ; in preparation of whose com- 
ing God had destroyed all by the deluge except the 
family of Noe; who was the fulfillment of the great 
promises to Abraham and Jacob ; for whose sake God 
through Moses led his people out of Egypt into that 
land, where Jesus was born; for his sake God had 
made such great predictions and preparations person- 



THIRD ARTICLE OF CREED. BETHLEHEM 211 

ally, by angels, by his patriarchs and prophets for his 
holy Mother, Mary. Though Jesus, Mary and Joseph 
were unknown and despised at that time, their names 
have been glorified by God by countless angels and men 
beyond human expression, just as was the little stable 
of Bethlehem, lowly and insignificant, but which now 
has become more glorified and honored, than any royal 
palace, and has been sought by numberless millions of 
pious pilgrims. Kings and queens and the great ones 
of earth have there knelt side by side with the poor and 
lowly in humble adoration of Jesus and veneration of 
Mary. Jesus, to whom heaven and earth belong, might 
have come into the world with more glory and pomp, 
than all the world can produce, if he had chosen. He 
might have been born in a palace of diamonds, sur- 
rounded and served by myriads of his brightest angels 
from heaven. But no; he chose the lowly way, to 
teach us right at his entrance into the world, that it is 
the lowly, humble and narrow road of the ten com- 
mandments, that leads to heaven. God, the Father, 
sent angels from heaven to announce the object of his 
coming, to give "glory to God on high and peace on 
earth to men of good will," (Lu. 2, 13.) 

2. When Jesus was eight days old, he solemnly 
received the name Jesus, as the angel had said, that 
God wanted it to be. 

3. When Jesus was forty days old, Mary presented 
him in the temple and ofifered him to God. To the 
Jews through angels and through the shepherds around 
Bethlehem, tfie arrival of the promised Savior was an- 
nounced ; but Jesus had come to save all men without 
distinction of race, or color. Hence, he was announced 
to the heathens and gentiles by a miraculous star, 
which the three Wise Men from the far East fol- 



212 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

lowed and they came to Bethlehem, adored there the 
Child and offered him their gifts : gold, frankincense 
and myrrh, which are admirably represented by the 
three of diamonds in the card-deck: gold, by which 
they acknowledged him to be the true King of heaven 
and earth; frankincense, by which they acknowledged 
him to be true God; myrrh, a bitter herb, by which 
they acknowledged him to be true man, and foreshad- 
owed the bitterness of his sufferings for the redemp- 
tion of man. 

4. When king Herod heard of it all, he became 
alarmed. Think of it ! Became alarmed at the birth 
of a human child ! To make sure of killing the child, 
he ordered all male children under two years of age to 
be killed. But how easy it is for God to elude the 
wicked designs of men. He sent an angel to tell 
Joseph about Herod's inhuman orders and to take the 
Child and his Mother and flee into Egypt. But Herod 
had hundreds of innocent children murdered, who died 
for Christ's sake. No wonder the little children were 
always dear to him, and that he said : "Suffer the lit- 
tle children to come to me." The sinful king Herod is 
represented by the king of spade. When Herod had 
died a horrible death, the angel again told Joseph, and 
he and Mary and Jesus went back and lived at Naza- 
reth in the home of Mary, where Jesus was subject to 
them and helped them work and pray. 

5. When Jesus was twelve years old, as many years 
as there are face cards in a card-deck, We went with 
his parents to Jerusalem to pray and offer sacrifice in 
the temple. He stayed there several days among the 
doctors of the law and asked them questions and 
taught them. 



THIRD ARTICLE OF CREED. DIAMOND FIVE 



213 



Up to this time in the life of Christ had occurred 
the five joyful mysteries, which we contemplate in the 
rosary, and which are: i) The annunciation by the 
angel Gabriel of his be- 
coming man; 2) when his 
blessed mother carried 
him at the visitation to 
Elizabeth; 3) his birth; 
4) his presentation in the 
temple; 5) his finding in 
the temple, — all of which 
are represented by the five 
of diamonds of the card- 
deck. 

6. When Jesus was 
thirty years old he began 
his public life. Saint John 
the Baptist was at that 
time preaching penance 
and baptizing about the 
river Jordan. Jesus went and was also baptized, not that 
he needed baptism, for there was no sin in him ; but to 
set us an example and to have an occasion of teaching 
the doctrine of the Most Holy Trinity. Those thirty 
years are represented by the ten of hearts, all love, ten 
of diamonds, all preciousness, and ten of clubs, all suf- 
fering, and all for us sinners. After Jesus was baptized 
he went out into the desert, where he prayed and 
fasted forty days, commemorated by the forty days of 
Lent in the Catholic Church, which are represented by 
the four tens of the card-deck, because we thereby 
do penance, ten of clubs stands for our sins ; ten of 
spades, as an instrument of labor to obtain diamonds 




214 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

of eternal glory ; ten of diamonds and the ten of hearts 
to love Jesus forever. 

7. Afterwards he was tempted three times by the 
devil: 1) "If thou art God turn these stones into 
bread." Jesus answered : "Man doth not live of bread 
alone, but of every word, that procedeth from the 
mouth of God." 2) "If thou art God, cast thyself 
down." Jesus answered: "Thou shalt not tempt the 
Lord thy God." 3) "All those (kingdoms of the 
world) will I give thee, if thou wilt adore me." Jesus 
said: "Be gone satan; God alone shalt thou adore." 
This teaches us, that to come to heaven we must en- 
dure temptations, and how to overcome them, by fast- 
ing and prayer and the word and grace of God. 

8. After Jesus had thus prepared himself by fast- 
ing and prayer, he began his public life of preaching 
and of proving by miracles, that he was truly God, and 
he gathered his apostles and disciples around him. 
This time of his holy life lasted three years, and during 
this time he did and spoke the most of what is recorded 
in the four gospels, which are represented by the four 
suits of the cards in the card-deck. It is all from the 
Bible. Do you believe it all. If so, you are in so far 
a Catholic. 

CHAPTER IV. 



The Fourth Article of the Apostle's Creed: "Suf- 
fered under Pontius Pilate, was Crucified, Dead 
and Buried." Passion and Death of Christ. Fruits 
of the Passion and Death of Christ. 

The fourth article of our holy faith represents 
to us the mysteries 1) of the sufferings and 2) death of 



FOURTH ARTICLE OF CREED. REDEMPTION 



215 



Christ, which are represented in the card-deck by the 

two of clubs. 
i 

I. Sufferings of Christ. 

Concerning the sufferings of Christ the Catholic 
Church teaches three things, which we must believe : 

i. According to his divine nature Jesus could not 
suffer; but according to his human nature he could. 
That is the reason, why he 
became man, so that ( he 
might suffer for our sins. 
All his human actions, be- 
came the actions and, con- 
sequently, his sufferings 
the sufferings of God, for 
in the two natures was 
only the one divine person. 

2. He did suffer in 
reality, not only in appear- 
ance, as some have falsely 
claimed. If he suffered in 
appearance only, then we 
are not redeemed, because 
then no debt is paid for 
our sins, and then we 

would be redeemed only in appearance and not 
reality. He suffered not only under Pontius Pilate, 
but he suffered all his lifetime pains of the body and 
anguish of his soul : i ) he sweat blood out of the 
anguish of his soul in the garden; 2) he was tied to a 
pillar and beaten; 3) he was crowned with thorns, and 
the thorns were cruelly pressed into his sacred head ; 4) 
he was overloaded with the heavy cross; 5) he was 
crucified. These five of the greatest mysteries of his 




in 



216 



CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 



sufferings are represented to us by the five of clubs in 
the card-deck, and represent the five sorrowful myster- 
ies of the rosary. 

3. He suffered and died wilfully and out of pure 
love for men. "He was crucified, because he willed 

it" (Is. 53, 7.) He him- 
self said : "No one takes 
life from me, but I give it 
myself." (Jo. 10, 18.) 
Because he was God Al- 
mighty, he could have pre- 
vented his executioners 
from taking his life. Saint 
John said: "Therein we 
have acknowledged the 
love of God, because he 
gave his life for us." (II. 
3, 16.) He still loves every 
one with that same infinite 
love. Oh ! Why not believe 
all, what he has taught 
and do all, what he has 
is the only way to come to him in 




commanded ? 
heaven. 

II. 



It 



What does the Bible say about the Suffering 
and Death of Jesus? 

1. Judas Iscariot, one of his twelve apostles, be- 
trayed him, sold him to his enemies for thirty pieces 
of silver. Judas is represented by the sinful black 
jack o-f spades. 

The Jewish rabble then tied him with ropes and led 
him out to the Jewish high-priest Annas and then to 
Caiphas. They made all kinds of false accusations 



FOURTH ARTICLE OF CREED. REDEMPTION 



217 



against him. They abused him all night. Next day they 
led him prisoner to Pontius Pilate, governor of Judea, 
to try to have him condemned to death. Pontius Pilate 
found not sufficient cause to condemn him and, to get 
rid of him and the mob, that followed him and clam- 
ored for his life, he sent 
Jesus to king Herod. 
Herod expected a miracle 
to satisfy his curiosity, but 
was disappointed and he 
had Jesus clothed with a 
garment of mockery; but 
he considered him a fool. 

King Herod then sent 
him back to Pilate, who 
did give way to the clam- 
ors of the mob and let 
them crucify him, which 
they did on Mount Cal- 
vary on a Friday, and we 
call it Good Friday, be- 
cause on that day Christ 
brought us every thing good, the redemption. 

If you have never been present at the beautiful 
devotion of the Fourteen Stations of the Cross in 
Catholic churches, go to that devotion during Lent to 
learn more of the sufferings and death of Christ. Dur- 
ing Thursday, Friday and Saturday of Holy Week, the 
Catholic Church commemorates with impressive cere- 
monies, the sufferings, passion and death of Christ. 
Go and attend those services. They are three days of 
mourning in the Catholic Church and they are repre- 
sented by the three of clubs in the card-deck. When 
we perceive what sad and holy things cards are capable 




218 



CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 



of representing, it would 
appear, that no one would 
ever abuse them for sin- 
ning by gambling, or 
by otherwise squandering 
valuable time in playing 
with them. 

2. The ace of clubs 
represents the cross of 
Christ, to which he was 
cruelly nailed and on 
which he was raised up 
and left to die. 

3. Jesus was led by the 
mob to four judges : An- 
nas, Caiphas, Pontius Pi- 
late and Herod, during 





which he suffered untold 
agony. They are repre- 
sented by the four of 
clubs. 

4. His apostles forsook 
him during all these trials. 
Saint Peter, his most 
prominent apostle, even 
denied him three times, 
which threefold denial is 
represented by the three 
of spades. 

5. When Pilate asked 
Jesus, whether he was a 
king, Jesus said: "I am." 
But he was at that time a 
King of suffering. Hence, 



FOURTH ARTICLE OF CREED. THREE DEATHS 



219 



he is represented by the king of clubs. Jesus was cruci- 
fied amid two others ; one a thief, the other a murderer. 
The murderer died blaspheming; the thief became peni- 
tent in his last moment 
and Jesus promised him 
paradise. There Were, 
consequently, three cross- 
es on Mount Calvary on 
that Good Friday, repre- 
sented by the three* of 
clubs. There were three 
deaths, represented by the 
three of spades. Those 
three deaths are repre- 
sentative of all deaths of 
all men. You will die 
either one of those three 
deaths : either you will die 
in innocence, as Jesus 
died ; or you will die as a 
forgiven penitent sinner, as the penitent thief, Diamas, 
died ; or you will die impenitent and unforgiven, as died 
the blaspheming murderer. That you might not die 
impenitent, was the reason, why Jesus died for you, 
and that is, also, the object of this book. (P. 266.) 

6. Jesus received five great wounds on the cross: 
by the rough, cruel, nails, which were of the size of a 
drag-tooth, through each of his sacred hands and feet, 
and by the lance his side was pierced. These five 
great wounds of Jesus are represented to us by the five 
of clubs, because they caused him unspeakable pain, 
by the five of spades, because he suffered them for our 
sins, by the five of hearts, because they were suffered 




220 



CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 



out of love for us, and by 
the five of diamonds, be- 
cause they obtained for us 
the pearls of eternal glory. 
7. Jesus spoke seven 
times from the cross. 
These words are all rep- 
resented by the four sev- 
ens in the card-deck : By 
the seven of clubs, be- 
cause they were spoken in 
agony for sin; by the 
seven of spades, because 
they were spoken out of 
sadness for sin; by the 
seven of hearts, because 
they were spoken out of 




I* 


* 


* 


* 


* 


* 

»«- 


** 



love for God and man; 
by the seven of diamonds 
because they were all more 
precious, than diamonds. 
Never were words spoken 
on earth, that contained 
more suffering ; never 
were words spoken on 
earth, that contained more 
sadness ; never were 
words spoken on earth, 
that contained more lov- 
ing kindness and forgive- 
ness; never were words 
spoken on earth, that con- 
tained more true love for 
God and man. 



FOURTH ARTICLE OF CREED. DEATH OF JESUS 



221 



8. Jesus hung in death agony three hours on the 
cross, of which the three in the card-deck reminds 
us. During this time the sun mourned and refused to 
give its light. At his death 
the earth trembled, the 
dead arose, and rocks were 
split across the grain in 
an unnatural manner, in- 
dicating, that nothing 
more unnatural had ever 
been done on earth, than 
this inhuman execution of 
the Creator ; all indicating, 
too, that, when men, the 
intelligent beings, refused 
to acknowledge their God, 
inanimate creatures did 
acknowledge him. 

9. Jesus was thirty-three 
years of age at the time 
of his death, which sum of years is made up by the ten 
of hearts, teaching, that he was all love ; by the ten of 
clubs teaching, that his love was full of suffering for 
us; by the ten of diamonds, teaching, that his suffer- 
ings were of infinite value for our redemption; and 
by the king of hearts, representing him, as the King of 
infinite love ; by the king of clubs, representing him, as 
the King satisfying for our sins to God; and by the 
king of diamonds representing him as the King of 
eternal glory. 

10. A pious legend says, that he was crucified on 
March 25, the anniversary of the annunciation of his 
incarnation and of the anniversary of the creation of 
man. Another one says, that the cross was made out 



(n ^ 

4 * 


V 


♦I 



222 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

of the wood of the tree of life, which stood side by side 
with the tree of knowledge of good and evil in para- 
dise, and that the cross was placed in the ground on the 
exact spot, where stood the tree of knowledge of good 
and evil, so that sin was satisfied on the same place, 
where the first one had been committed. 

ii. After Jesus had expired on the cross, he was 
taken down and laid in the grave. 

II. What good did the suffering and death of 
Christ do for us? 

i. He gave satisfaction to God for the guilt of all 
sins of all men and for the punishment due to them 
without any exception, provided, they co-operate with 
God's designs. He could do this, because as man he 
could suffer, and as God his sufferings had an infinite 
value. 

2. QUESTIONS ANSWERED. 1) "Was it 
necessary for Christ to suffer so much?" Not at all; 
for any act of humiliation, for instance, one drop of 
his sacred blood, had infinite value and was sufficient 
to accomplish complete redemption. 

2) "Why, then, did he suffer so much?" a) Be- 
cause he wanted to honor God all he could and the 
more he suffered, the more he exhibited the enormity 
of the offences and guilt of sin and, consequently, the 
more he deterred men from sinning; b) to show us his 
infinite love for us and to, consequently, induce us to 
avoid sin out of love for him; c) to induce us to the 
practice of virtue, for the avoidance of sin alone is not 
sufficient for salvation, but we must, also, do good. 

3) "Since Christ redeemed all, why are not all 
saved ?" Because they do not apply the price of his 
redemption to their souls. They do not apply them, 



"salvation for all" 223 

because they do not know them; they do not know 
them, because they are not properly instructed. To be 
so properly instructed is the great object of this book. 
It is like this: Some one for crime is put in jail, be- 
cause he cannot, or will not, pay his fine. You go to 
the judge and pay the fine for him and you state, that 
this fine may be applied to him, provided, he shows, 
he is sorry, promises not to commit the same crime 
again and to do penance, work for you a day. Is he 
now already free? No; this fine, which you paid for 
him must first be applied to him ; he must be notified 
of it by the proper officer and he must do his penance, 
which you appointed for him. Now, here you have it 
plainly : We human creatures have all committed of- 
fences against God by sin and, while we are in sin, we 
are spiritually in jail, in prison, in the slavery of satan. 
Our fine, our guilt of sin, was so great, that we could 
not pay it. The eternal Son of God came and paid it 
for us with his suffering and death. That is the price 
of our redemption. Are we now saved for that sole, 
simple, reason, because Jesus died for us ? No ; we 
must apply the price of that fine, of that redemption, 
to our souls. 

4) "How are we going to do that? Where will we 
find the price of that redemption ? Where will we find 
the proper officers to insure us with absolute certainty, 
that that price of our redemption is applied to our 
souls?" Our Blessed Lord has left nothing vague 
here, no guess-work about this affair of our eternal 
salvation. He founded, organized and equipped the 
institution of his holy Catholic Church and deposited 
with her the treasures of his redemption and appointed 
his officers, the apostles and their lawful successors, 
the Pope, bishops and priests to distribute them to all, 



224 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

who worthily apply for them, and he himself, also, 
appointed the means, by which those treasures should 
be applied to immortal souls, namely, the sacraments. 
The first time, that that price of the redemption is 
applied to our soul, is by the sacrament of baptism. If 
lost, it is to be re-applied by the sacrament of penance, 
and to be augmented by the other sacraments, by 
prayer and by good works. The knowledge, how to 
make a proper, reasonable use, of all these means, is to 
be imparted by religious instruction, as you find them 
partly in this book, and as every priest will gladly give 
for your asking. Consequently, you perceive, that 
there is a perfect system, leaving no doubt, nothing to 
guess at, but absolute assurance in the entire work of 
salvation, as it is taught and practiced in the Catholic 
Church. 

3. We often hear the expressions: 1) "Come and 
take religion and be saved." But they never tell you, 
how you are to take it. Religion is a bond, which God 
- has established between himself and man. You must 
have faith first. They never tell you, how you can 
obtain faith. 2) "Take Jesus into your heart ; love Jesus, 
and he will wash your sins away, and you are saved. " 
They never tell you, how it is done, nor what assur- 
ance you have, that it is done. Feel it ? Neither faith, 
nor religion, nor the grace of forgiveness of sin, is a 
matter of feeling; it is not an affair of the senses. If 
it were, they would have to show to the senses, how it 
is done. Those are all vague expressions, gropings in 
the dark. That is not God's system. His system of 
faith, of religion, of forgiveness of sin, of redemption 
applied, as he has arranged it in the Catholic Church, 
leaves nothing to doubt about, nothing to guess about. 



FIFTH ARTICLE OF CREED. LIMBO 225 

It is all in the Bible. The teachings of the Catholic 
Church clearly exhibit all. Do you believe it all? If 
so, then you are in so far a Catholic. 

CHAPTER V. 



Fifth Article of Apostle's Creed: "He descended 
into hell, the third day he arose again from the 
dead." Limbo. Resurrection of Christ. 

This article contains two great truths : 

I. Jesus "descended into hell." 

i. The word hell in the Bible has four different 
significations: i) The place of the fallen angels, dev- 
ils and the damned souls, in which sense it is now com- 
monly used in every day language. 2) The grave, the 
regions of the dead bodies, cemetery. Some have been 
trying to prove from the Bible by 200 chiefly inappro- 
priately applied texts, that there was neither Limbo 
nor purgatory, nor hell, but only the grave, and that all 
those words, which are used in the Bible to designate 
those four different places, all mean grave. Their 
translation of the Hebrew, Greek and Latin words for 
those four different places prove their ignorance. If 
there is no hell, why bother about it ? Nobody will get 
into it, if there is none. If there is no hell, there is no 
need of a redemption ; no need of faith, no need of reli- 
gion. Why, then, make a fuss about those things? 
They try to prove, there is no hell, for the same reason, 
that the fool says in his heart, "there is no God," be- 
cause they have reason to wish, there were no hell. 3) 
Purgatory, a place, where some souls go to suffer for 
a time, to pay off the little debt, which they still owe 
to God for their sins, before they can enter heaven. 4) 
A place of rest in the other world, where were the 



226 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

souls of the just, who died before Christ, usually 
called "Limbo", which meaning the word "hell" has 
here in the fifth article of the apostle's creed. 

2. Jesus did not descend into the hell of the devil 
and the damned, i) for there was nothing for him to 
do there; for "out of hell there is no redemption." 
2) Nor does it mean, that Jesus descended into the 
grave, for that truth is laid down in the fourth article 
of the apostle's creed, as has been seen, and his body 
only, united to his divinity, went into the grave, not his 
soul. 3) Nor does it mean, that he went into purga- 
tory, for his spotless soul needed no cleansing. 4) It, 
consequently, must and does mean, that Jesus accord- 
ing to his soul went to Limbo. (Pet. 3, 18.) 

3. 1) Heaven was closed against man by the sin of 
Adam and Eve. No one could enter it, until it was 
opened by the redemption of Christ. 2) Those, who 
lived before him, could be saved only by the belief and 
hope in the Redeemer to come and by keeping the com- 
mandments. 3) Jesus had obtained ample redemption 
for all, yet, the price of that redemption must first be 
applied to the soul. It was not otherwise with 
the souls of the just in Limbo. On earth Christ 
left a visible institution for visible men to apply spir- 
itual means for obtaining the grace of the redemption 
in visible ways; but he went to Limbo personally to 
apply, announce, to them, that were there, like Abel, 
Adam and Eve, Noe, Abraham, etc., etc., that the time 
for their delivery was at hand. 

II. Jesus "arose from the dead on the third day." 

1. Jesus had foretold that he would arise from the 

dead on the third day and he did. He was crucified on 

Friday and he arose early on Sunday morning, Easter 

Sunday. His divinity was not separated from his body 



FIFTH ARTICLE OF CREED. RESURRECTION 227 

nor from his soul, when he expired on the cross ; only 
his human soul was separated from his human body. 
Because he was truly God, it was a simple matter for 
him to reunite his soul to his body and to arise from the 
grave. The Bible attests this truth, the enemies of 
Jesus themselves believed it, the apostles preached it, 
the Catholic Church has taught it ever since, and the 
christian world has ever since believed it. Others have 
arisen from the dead, but only by the power of God, 
not by their own power, nor by human power. 

2. His body was glorified. He was no more in a 
sufferable condition. There was no other sign of his 
sufferings left in his sacred body except the five great 
wounds. These he kept and keeps : i ) to prove 
to his apostles and to all others, that he really 
was the same Christ; 2) to exhibit them as the em- 
blems of his victory over sin and death, hell and the 
devil; 3) to exhibit them to his heavenly Father, when 
asking mercy for us ; 4) to exhibit them to the great 
joy of the angels and saints in heaven; 5) to exhibit 
them on the great last Judgment Day to the just, as a 
sign of consolation, and to the reprobate to their own 
shame. Five beautiful reasons for the five wounds of 
Christ represented by the five of diamonds in the 
card-deck. 

3. What are the effects of the resurrection of 
Christ? 1) It is the strongest proof, that he is God, 
and that, consequently his teachings are absolutely 
true and divine, and that, consequently, no man has the 
choice to receive them, or not, and to follow them, or 
not. If Jesus had not arisen from the dead by his own 
power, we would be in doubt, as to his divinity. That 
is the reason, why the apostles made his resurrection the 
chief proof of his divinity and for his divine doctrine 



228 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

and for the establishment of his holy Church and reli- 
gion. 2) His resurrection is a great spiritual strength 
and consolation in our own trials, sufferings and death, 
for 3) upon the resurrection of Christ is grounded our 
absolute assurance of our own resurrection : "Through 
one man came sin and death, and through one man, 
God and man, Jesus is the resurrection from the dead, 
and, as in Adam all die, thus in Christ all are made to 
live." (I. Cor. 15, 12.) 4) The resurrection of Christ 
admonishes us to rise from the spiritual death of sin 
now and as often, as we have had the misfortune to fall 
into sin. How will we do that ? Jesus has made the pro- 
vision for such spiritual rising in the holy sacrament 
of penance, where we receive assurance of forgiveness, 
after we have done our part. Consequently, it is clear, 
that because Jesus has died for us and arisen from the 
dead, will avail us nothing for eternal salvation, unless 
we make the proper use of all those inestimable merits, 
gifts and graces. How will we do that? By obtaining 
faith in baptism ; by being instructed ; by nourishing 
that faith by the holy sacraments, by prayer and by 
good works, as God's only true Church plainly teaches. 
Consequently, God has not left us in doubt about any 
thing for a glorious resurrection. It is all in the Bible. 
The Catholic Church teaches it all. " Do you believe it 
all. If so, then you are in so far a Catholic. 

CHAPTER VI. 



Sixth Article of the Apostle's Creed : "He ascended 
into heaven ; sitteth at the right hand of God, the 
Father Almighty/' 

I. Jesus "ascended into heaven." 

1. That Jesus Christ did ascend with body and 
soul, as true God and as true man, into heaven, is just 



SIXTH ARTICLE OF CREED. ASCENSION 229 

so certain as, that he was born, died and arose from the 
dead, for the same authority, the Bible, tells us so. 

2. When did Jesus ascend into heaven? Forty 
days after his resurrection, which forty days can be 
remembered by the four ten-spot cards in the card- 
deck. The number forty is full of significance in the 
Bible: i) The flood lasted forty days; 2) the Israel- 
ites sojourned forty days in the desert; 3) Moses re- 
mained forty days on the Mount ; 4) our Lord fasted 
forty days. 5) During the forty days between his res- 
urrection and ascension he put in order all his affairs 
on earth. He reviewed many things with his apostles 
and taught them many other things, which are not 
recorded in the Bible, but which tradition has faith- 
fully handed down to us. From this you should learn, 
to order your affairs in good season, so that there may 
be no confusion, when you are called by death. 

3. Where did Jesus ascend into heaven? He 
started for his eternal glory in the same place, where 
he had begun his worst sufferings, on the Mount of 
Olives. This teaches us, that sorrow and joy, suffer- 
ing and glory, fight against sin and victory over it, 
cross and crown, are closely together. Therefore, 
keep up good courage and do not look at the ways of 
the world. You are not going to be judged nor re- 
warded by what others do, or say, or do not do, but by 
God according to the commandments of God, which 
point out the way to the eternal reward. 

4. How did Jesus ascend into heaven? By the 
same power, by which he arose from the dead, by his 
own divine power, and with his whole body and soul, 
as true God and as true man. 

5. He was accompanied by all the just, who were 
in Limbo, and angels came to accompany him. What 



230 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

a grand procession that must have been! Similar 
grandeur and glory await you, if you are only faith- 
ful to him by believing all and doing all what he has 
taught and teaches through his Church. 

6. Why did Jesus ascend into heaven ? I ) In order 
to take as man possession of his glory. It teaches us, 
that through his redemption we are to have the glory 
of heaven for fidelity to him. 2) In order to open 
heaven to all the just who died before him ; and for all, 
who die after him in the grace of God; also, for us. 
Heaven was closed by the sin of Adam and Eve, and 
it was for him, who paid the penalty for the sin of 
man and who had triumphed over sin, death and the 
devil, to open it. It is now each one's individual task to 
make the journey thither. 3) In order to, as man, be 
our mediator before God. This does not mean, that 
we may not employ mediators, intercessors between 
him and us. 4) In order to send us the Holy Ghost, as 
he had promised. 

II. Jesus Christ "sitteth at the right hand of God, 
the Father Almighty." 
This means that Jesus Christ is in heaven, as God, 
equal to the Father and that he participates in heaven, 
also, as man in the highest power and glory of God. It 
is all in the Bible. The Catholic Church teaches it all. 
Do you believe it all? If so, you are in so far a Cath- 
olic. 



apostle's creed 
CHAPTER VII. 



231 



Seventh Article of the Apostle's Creed: "From 
thence he shall come, to judge the living 
and the dead." 

Particular and General Judgment. 

This article of our holy faith teaches us, that Jesus 
Christ will come again from heaven at the end of the 
world, to judge all the living and the dead. It is 
called the general judg- 
ment, because at it will be 
judged not only all men, 
but, also, all the angels. It 
is called the last judgment, 
because there will be none 
after it; but there is one 
before it called the par- 
ticular judgment. This is 
for each one immediately 
after death. Both are rep- 
resented to us by the two 
of spades, because they 
are dark and dreadful for 
us now and are the con- 
sequences of sin. 

I. Particular Judgment. 

i. When will it take place? It is clear from the 
Bible, that every man is judged immediately after 
death. 

2. Where will it take place? In the place of death, 
where the soul separates from the body. All alone 
your soul will stand there, confronted by the judge, 




232 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

Jesus Christ. None of your friends, whom you have 
left behind, will be there to defend you. The devil will 
be there, to accuse you. Your guardian angel will be 
there, to defend you, if in justice he can defend you. 
Terrible to think, that you may be judged in a place, 
in bed, perhaps, where you have sinned so much. 
Think it over. Do now, what you will wish then; to 
have done and to have not done. 

3. How will each one be judged? Jesus who died 
to save you, who showed you by word and example the 
way to heaven, who left you his holy Church, to admin- 
ister all the means of grace and sanctification, the seven 
holy sacraments, and to teach you the way to salvation, 
who, until death, has been your loving and merciful 
Redeemer, is now your just Judge without mercy. 
Every unrepentant, sinful thought, desire, word, deed 
and omission of good deeds, stands there on record, 
as your accuser, awaiting punishment. All your good 
thoughts, good desires, good words, good deeds will be 
there on record, as your defenders, awaiting reward. 
"Every man will be judged according to his works." 
(Apoc. 20, 13.) "God will demand an account of 
every idle word, that man shall speak." (Mt. 12, 36.) 
Your sentence will be one of these three: 1) If your 
soul is absolutely stainless, your sentence will be: 
"Come, blessed, possess the kingdom prepared for 
you ;" (Mt. 25, 34.) 2) if you are in the state of grace, 
but have still some debt to pay for your sins, it will 
be: "Go into the penance-fire, until the last debt is 
paid," (Mt. 5, 26.) that is into purgatory for a time 
and then into heaven; 3) if you die with unrepented 
grievous sin on your soul, which God may forbid, then 
your sentence will be : "Depart from me into everlast- 
ing hell-fire." (Mt. 25, 41.) And that for all eternity. 



GENERAL JUDGMENT. SPADE TWO 233 

Think it over. One of these three sentences you are 
going to receive, and before long; for life is short at 
its longest. It is universally acknowledged, that the 
Catholic religion is the easiest religion to die in, for it 
has all the fortifications for a happy death in the holy 
sacraments for the dying, but "death comes like a thief 
in the night, when you will least expect it." Why, 
then, delay preparation for a happy death by a good, 
virtuous life, by keeping the commandments of God 
and the precepts of his holy Church, and by a worthy 
reception of the holy sacraments ? If you are in doubt, 
how to prepare for a good death and for a merciful 
judgment, go to see any Catholic priest about it. They 
are the experts in these things. It is their business. 
It belongs to their profession. 

II. The General Judgment. 

It is a divinely revealed truth, that the universe 
again will be destroyed. After its destruction, will 
take piace the general judgment, held by Jesus Christ 
for all and in presence of all of God's rational crea- 
tures. How do we know this truth? 

i. Reason itself tells us, that God's infinite justice 
demands, that all his judgments over all the good and 
the bad thoughts, desires, words, deeds and omissions 
of good deeds, should be shown openly to all and be- 
fore all of his rational creatures, before angels and all 
men. Then it will become clear, why God has done 
and permitted so many things, which men cannot 
fully understand now. 

2. What reason clearly perceives, the Bible plainly 
teaches: "The Son of man (Jesus Christ) will come 
with his angels and will reward every one according to 
his works." (Mt. 16, 27.) The general judgment 



234 



CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 



will not reverse the sentences of the particular judg- 
ment. It will cover the same subjects for examina- 
tion as the particular judgment; all thoughts, words, 
deeds and omission of good deeds, will all be opened 
to all. The sinful thoughts, words, deeds and omis- 
sion of good deeds, are represented by the four of 
spades, representing black gilt, and the good thoughts, 
words, deeds and temptations overcome, are. repre- 
sented by the four of diamonds, representing bright 
reward. 

3. When the general judgment will take place, God 
has not been pleased to reveal to us, and Christ said, 

that not even the angels, 
the Principalities, the 
third archangel-choir, who 
will have special charge of 
the general judgment, 
know the time of it. 
Hence, those, who make 
them selves ridiculously 
conspicuous by announc- 
ing the time of the end of 
the world at hand, are 
mere idle dreamers. It is 
not important for us to 
know the time of the gen- 
eral judgment. But it is 
important for us to so live 
and to so repent and con- 
fess our sins and do penance for them according to the 
instructions of the Catholic Church, that we need not 
be ashamed to have every one see our inner life at the 
last judgment. 




GENERAL JUDGMENT 235 

4. Nor is it certain, where the judgment will take 
place ; nor does it matter. A pious legend says, that it 
will take place on Mount Calvary, where paradise may 
have been, and where may have stood the tree of life, 
which might have saved man from the horrors of both 
the particular and general judgment, if Adam and Eve 
had eaten of its fruit; and where Christ by his redemp- 
tion made possible for all men to have a benign judg- 
ment. 

5. How will it take place? The angels will bring 
all men together, good and bad. There the most sad 
separation will take place. It will occur, that some 
parents and children will be separated; husbands and 
wives separated ; brothers and sisters separated. Some 
will go to heaven, the others into hell, and for all eter- 
nity, never to meet again. Think it over. What are 
your chances for a sad separation? What are the 
chances of your loved ones? Do now, what you will 
then wish to have done, and avoid every thought, word 
and deed, that you will have to be ashamed of then. 

6. How long it will take to hold this judgment, 
God only knows ; nor does it matter, whether it will be 
done in the twinkle of an eye, or in a day, or whether 
it will last for a long period of time, for heaven will be 
for the good, wheresoever God is, and for the damned 
no one cares. 

7. What will the end be ? At the conclusion of the 
general judgment Jesus will pronounce two sentences : 
1 ) to the reprobate he will say : "Depart from me, ye 
cursed, into everlasting fire !" 2) To the just : "Come, 
blessed, with me into everlasting joys; possess the 
kingdom, prepared for you from the beginning." One 
of these sentences will be for you. Which one ? It is 
for you to say. Do not say : "I will take my chances ;" 



236 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

for you have no chances ; there is only one. Jesus has 
placed within your power to make a benign judgment 
possible. Begin now; for the present moment, now, 
is yours ; the future is not yours. You may be called 
to judgment any day. It is all in the Bible. The Cath- 
olic Church teaches it all. The deck of playing cards 
represents it all. Do you. believe it all? If so, you are 
in so far a Catholic. 

SECTION III. 

CHAPTER I. 



Eighth Article of Apostle's Creed : "I believe in the 
Holy Ghost." Holy Ghost. 

The three divine persons in God have each ascribed 
certain good works to them : To the Father, the crea- 
tion ; to the Son, redemption ; to the holy Ghost, sancti- 
fication. It would have availed us little to have been 
born, if we had not been redeemed; it would have 
availed us little to have been created and redeemed, if 
we had not, also, been sanctified. Consequently, the 
operations of the Holy Ghost are just as important, as 
those of the Father and the Son. Hence, appears the 
importance of this article of our holy faith and of a 
true knowledge of it and of the christian devotion to 
the Holy Ghost. 

i. "I believe" has the same meaning here, as at the 
beginning of the apostle's creed and as explained in 
the chapter on faith, holding undoubtingly as true, 
what both the Bible and the Catholic Church teach 
concerning him. That the Holy Ghost is the third 
person in the Most Holy Trinity, has, also, been ex- 
plained on the doctrine of the most Holy Trinity. 



EIGHTH ARTICLE OF CREED. HOLY GHOST 237 

2. Different names are given to him in the Bible 
and in our language. He is called : Holy Spirit, Spirit 
of Truth, Spirit of God, Paraclete, Spiritual Guide, 
Divine Teacher, Sanctifier. He is mentioned 300 
times in the Bible. 

3. Jesus promised to send the Holy Ghost upon the 
apostles. 

4. He did come upon them ten days after Jesus had 
ascended into heaven, on Pentecost Sunday, while they 
were gathered in the hall in Jerusalem. 

5. As God, the Holy Ghost is by his divine nature 
and essence present everywhere; but by his special 
operations of gifts and graces he is present in a very 
special manner in his holy Catholic Church, in those 
who have received the holy sacrament of confirmation 
and in still more special manner in those, who have 
received the holy sacrament of ordination. 

6. This coming down of the Holy Ghost upon the 
apostles and through them upon his Church was of the 
utmost importance. He had inspired the writers of the 
sacred books of the Old Testament to write down the 
great truths, which he wanted them to write, as he did 
later on inspire some of the apostles to write down 
some things; but the apostles needed enlightenment 
and courage to go and preach and teach the doctrine 
and to administer the seven holy sacraments, as their 
divine Master had taught and commanded them to do; 
then, it was necessary for him to enlighten all those, 
who would have the good will to be saved, to receive 
those teachings as 'true and to encourage them to pro- 
fess those doctrines and to carry out their faith in 
practice, and, if need be, die for them, as millions did 
do. For it would have availed us little to have inspired 
writers to write the saving truths of salvation, if there 



238 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

were no infallible interpreter of them. It would have 
availed us little for Christ to have taught his doctrine, 
instituted his new religion and the seven holy sacra- 
ments and his holy Catholic Church, if we were then 
left to shift for ourselves, not knowing with absolute 
certainty, where those things were to be found and pre- 
served in their purity. To take care of all this, to guide 
the apostles and the Church through their successors 
and through her preserve the doctrines of the Bible 
and of Christ unchanged and not misinterpreted and to 
preserve the real spiritual power to teach and to guide 
and to offer up sacrifice and administer the sacraments, 
was precisely the work of the Holy Ghost : "The holy 
Spirit will abide with you forever and will teach you all 
things." (Jo. 14, 26.) What Jesus, therefore, had 
begun in a visible manner, the Holy Ghost came to con- 
tinue and does continue to do until the end of time in 
an invisible manner through his visible ministers in his 
visible One Holy Catholic Apostolic Church. There 
you have it again : Nothing vague about our holy reli- 
gion or Church. Jesus has not left us a guess-work, 
nor something that we are to pick out by choice ; he has 
left us absolute certainty. That One Holy Catholic 
Apostolic Church is visible, too, so that each one can 
find it. No one has any doubt to-day, that the Holy 
Ghost has, does and forever will infallibly guide his 
One Holy Catholic Apostolic Church, excepting those, 
who have the same kinds of reasons for denying it, as 
"the fool, who says in his heart, there is no God," and 
as others say, "there is no devil," "there is no hell," 
because they wish there were none of these things. 
All these teachings concerning the Holy Ghost are 
clear from the Bible. The Catholic Church clearly 
teaches what is in the Bible, and, consequently, clearly 



apostle's creed 239 

teaches everything concerning these most important 
works of the Holy Ghost. This Church, which is 
founded by the Son of God upon the solid rock of 
Peter, and which is infallibly guided by the Spirit of 
truth, is a good, safe, Church to belong to. If you do 
not already belong to her, you better seek more in- 
structions and join her.- Then do her bidding and your 
eternal salvation is secured. Do you believe it all? If 
so, you are in so far a Catholic. 

CHAPTER II. 



Ninth Article of Apostle's Creed : "The Holy Cath- 
olic Church; the communion of Saints." Catholic 
Church. Saint Peter, first Pope. Infallibility of 
Pope. Bishops and Priests. Marks of the true 
Church. Veneration of Saints. Relics. Images. 

I. The Catholic Church. 

I. It would have availed us little for eternal happi- 
ness, to have been created by God, the Father, if, after 
our fall from justice by sin, we had not been redeemed 
by God, the Son. It would have availed us little, to 
have been redeemed, if we did not have the Holy 
Ghost, as Sanctifier. It would have availed us little for 
the Holy Ghost to have inspired the sacred writers of 
the Scriptures to write down God's revelations, if we 
did not have an unerring guide to teach them to us. It 
would have availed us little for the Holy Ghost to be 
our Sanctifier and for Jesus to have left the means, by 
which we could with absolute certainty apply the mer- 
its of his redemption to our soul, and to have taught 
his religious truths and instituted his religion, if we 
could not see, how and by whom that religion could be 



240 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

taught us with absolute certainty, and how and by 
whom, those means of grace and sanctification could 
be administered to us with authority and undoubting 
assurance for their efficacy. For man is a double 
being : He has a body and a soul ; according to his body 
he is earthly, according to his soul, he is spiritual; 
according to the body he is temporal, according to the 
soul he is eternal. He, consequently, needs both visible 
and invisible guides. The card-deck again comes to 
our aid for illustration. The cards are visible things ; 
but the power which every card in a game receives by 
the rules of the game, is invisible ; but those rules must 
be taught by a visible teacher. Just so it is with divine 
revelation. The Holy Ghost knew, we needed a visible 
teacher for them and, for such important matter as our 
eternal salvation, an infallible teacher. Our blessed 
Savior knew, too, that we needed a visible and an in- 
fallible institution for the administration of the visible 
means of invisible grace and sanctification and, conse- 
quently, unerring, visible ministers of those visible 
means, the- sacraments and the sacrifice of the Mass. 
That institution is precisely, what we call THE 
ONE HOLY • CATHOLIC APOSTOLIC 
CHURCH. In every day language, by speakers and 
writers, it is simply called and acknowledged "the 
Catholic Church" throughout the whole world. "Ro- 
mish Church" is an insult. "Roman Church", Catho- 
lics repudiate as incorrect. The Catholic Church, then, 
is that visible institution, founded, organized and 
equipped by Jesus Christ for the purpose to carry on 
the work of saving souls, which he himself had begun 
and as he himself had begun in a visible manner, and 
which institution is actually now existing "in the con- 
gregation of all the faithful, having the same faith, 



TRUE, VISIBLE CHURCH OF CHRIST 241 

believing the same doctrine, practicing the same reli- 
gion, offering up the same sacrifice, receiving the same 
holy sacraments, and guided by one visible head, and 
for all times and for all men without any distinction 
of language, or race, or color, or condition, or position, 
or sex, or nationality/' and called the Catholic Church. 

i. Figures of the one visible Catholic Church from 
the Old Testament: 

i) The one visible Ark of Noe, which saved only 
those, who were in it. (Gen. 6, 14.) 

2) The Chosen People of God, who alone entered 
the promised land. (Gen. 22, 17.) 

3) The visible temple of Jerusalem, built accord- 
ing to God's instructions. (2, Par. 3, 1.) 

2. Figures of the visible Church in the New Testa- 
ment : 

1) The visible mustard seed, which grew to a large 
tree. (Mt. 13, 31.) 

2) The fishing net, in which were both good and 
bad fishes, as there are both saints and sinners in the 
Catholic Church, for the Church is for sinners, who in 
the Church can be sanctified and made saints. (Mt. 

13. 470 

3) The one visible sheep-fold, wherein are gath- 
ered and fed with spiritual food men of all times, races 
and colors and are guarded against the wolves — teach- 
ers of false religions. (Jo. 10, 16.) 

The true Church of Christ is, consequently, just as 
visible, as the government of the United States, whose 
visible headquarters are at Washington, D. C. The 
President represents it visibly to its citizens and to the 
whole world. The congressmen represent visibly at 
Washington their state and district. The visible gov- 
ernor of the state represents visibly the government to 



242 CARDS, BIBU5, CHURCH, RELIGION 

every citizen of that state, and so on down to any and 
every officer and citizen, so that in the United States, 
where there are any civil officers and citizens, there 
the United States government is represented and is 
visible. Just so the true Church of Christ is visible. 
Its headquarters are at Rome, Italy. The Pope visibly 
represents her invisible head, Christ, and, consequent- 
ly, visibly represents the whole visible Church to the 
whole world. The cardinals visibly represent their 
country, or district, at Rome. The bishops visibly rep- 
resent her and the Pope and,' consequently, Christ, in 
their dioceses to the public. The visible pastor in the 
visible parish visibly represents in his office the bishop, 
and through the bishop, the Pope, and through the 
Pope, Christ; and the faithful on earth are all visible 
members of this visible Church. Hence, no one has 
any excuse of not being able to know, or find, the true 
Church of Christ, for she is just as visible, as the 
United States government, and just as visible, as is a 
deck of cards and every card in it. 

II. Since Jesus Christ founded the Church a vis- 
ible society for visible men, he must have given her 
this threefold power, as is very clear from the Bible: 

1. THE TEACHING POWER, which consists 
in the right and duty and authority to teach the divine 
revelations and the doctrine of Christ purely and un- 
erringly to all men, at all times, in all places, without 
any distinction of condition, learning, race, or color. 
He did give her that power, saying : "To me is given 
all power in heaven and on earth; as the Father has 
sent me (fitted out with all this power), thus I send 
you (fitted out with all that same power) ; go, ye, 
therefore, teach all nations ; teach them to observe all 
things, whatsoever I have commanded you, and (that 



POWERS OF CATHOLIC CHURCH 243 

you may be able to carry out this command) I am with 
you, until the end of time, and (to make sure, that you 
will do it right) I will send you the Holy Spirit, who 
will teach you and remind you of all this." (Mt. 28, 
18.) The history of the apostles shows, that they 
understood him to mean, just what his words implied; 
for they did carry out that command and through their 
lawful successors have been doing the same thing for 
nearly 1900 years and will continue to do so until the 
end of time. 

2. THE SACERDOTAL POWER, which con- 
sists in the right and duty and authority 1 ) to offer up 
sacrifice, the principal act of religious worship, 2) to 
administer the seven sacraments, the means of grace 
and sanctification, 3) to bless and consecrate persons 
and things, 4) to reconcile sinful man to God, 5) to 
render men sinless and to sanctify them. This power 
Christ gave to his Church, saying: 1) For the offer- 
ing up of sacrifice; "Do this in commemoration of 
me;" 2) for the administration of the sacraments; 
"Baptize them;" (Mt. 28, 19.) "Who sins you shall 
forgive, they are forgiven them;" (Jo. 20, 22.) 3) for 
blessing is also clearly expressed, because he gave them 
all power; (Mt. 28, 19; Mar. 16, 19.) and the Bible 
says : "Everything is sanctified by prayer and the 
Word of God." 

3. THE PASTORAL, SHEPHERD, GOV- 
ERNING POWER, which consists in the same 
right and duty and authority, which a shepherd has 

, over his flock: To rule, to guide, and to make laws, 
and to enforce them and to impose punishment for 
their transgressions. Christ himself surely had that 
power, and the Bible says, he gave all that same power 
to the apostles and through them to their lawful sue- 



244 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

cessors; for all need the same guiding power in all 
places, in all times, in all conditions, for all races and 
colors. "He, who hears you, hears me/' said Christ. 
(Lu. 10, 16.) Every human society has that right to 
make and enforce laws, why not the society of the 
Church of Christ ? The apostles did make use of that 
power, and all their lawful successors have, do and will 
make use of it in the Catholic Church. Therefore, the 
Catholic Church is that perfect organization of Christ 
for the salvation of all men without distinction of race 
or color. All these offices Christ performed himself, 
while he was on earth ; but he did not remain here vis- 
ibly ; he appointed visible men to take his place for him. 

III. The visible head of the visible Church of Christ. 

In every card-game there is a head-card, a leading 
card. Just so is there a head in the Catholic Church of 
Christ. Every well organized society must have a 
head. It is not otherwise with the society of the true 
Church of Christ. 

OBJECTION SOLVED. "The head of the 
Church of Christ is Christ himself." That is Catholic 
doctrine exactly. Jesus Christ is the founder of the 
Catholic Church and he is the invisible head; but a 
visible society must have a visible head. 

i. Did Christ appoint a visible head for his Church? 
What does the Bible say ? It says, that Christ singled 
out Saint Peter from the other apostles and said to 
him: "Thou art Peter (and that is a rock), and upon 
this rock I will build MY Church, and the gates of 
hell shall not prevail against her." (Mt. 16, 16.) Can 
human language be plainer? Christ here builds his 
visible Church upon a visible, rational, living rock. 
He promises to this One Church (for he did not say 



NINTH ARTICLE OF CREED. FIRST POPE 245 

"churches") indestructibility. By the gates of hell are 
here meant all kinds of enemies, enemies from without 
and enemies from within, the bad ones of earth united 
with the powers of the devil, and these, says Christ, 
will not be able to destroy her. 

2. Christ knew, that it was not sufficient to merely 
build his indestructible Church upon an indestructible 
rock. It needed also a head with full power. Hence, 
he said further to Saint Peter: "To thee I will give 
the keys of the kingdom of heaven ; whatsoever thou 
shalt bind upon earth, shall be bound, also, in heaven, 
and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, shall be 
loosed also in heaven." (Mt. 16, 19.) Could Jesus 
have used clearer words in making Saint Peter head of 
his Church? Any one, who has the keys, has full 
power. They are the emblem of power. Saint Peter 
received the keys to what? The keys to the merits of 
Christ's redemption, administered by the seven holy 
sacraments, which open to us the kingdom of heaven. 
It is futile to claim, that the apostles received all the 
same power from Christ and that they formed twelve 
sister churches ; for Christ did not tell them to do so, 
neither does the Bible say so, that they were each made 
the head of a church, neither that they received the 
keys of the kingdom of heaven. Christ, consequently, 
made his Church not only indestructible, but, also, in- 
fallible at the same time, for her falling into error, 
which she would be liable to do, if she could, would be 
her destruction, and the gates of hell would then pre- 
vail against her. 

3. After his resurrection Christ handed over to 
Saint Peter the supreme shepherd-ship of his flock, 
saying to him: "Dost thou love me?" "Yes, Lord, 
thou knowest, that I love thee." Jesus said: "Feed 



246 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

my lambs, feed my sheep." (Jo. 21, 15.) By the 
lambs are here meant all the faithful members of the 
Church, good, bad and indifferent, represented by all 
the spot-cards in the card-deck, red, clean, bright 
and black; by the sheep are here meant the stronger 
ones, the better instructed ones, the other apostles, 
bishops and priests, represented in the card-deck by 
hearts. Jesus gave Peter charge over all, to feed all. 
With what? With spiritual food which are the seven 
holy sacraments, the holy sacrifice of the Mass and 
the Word of God and the teaching of the Bible 
and the teachings of His Church, for he said at 
another time : "Man does not live of bread alone, but 
of every word that procedeth from the mouth of God," 
for man is a double being and needs double food, cor- 
poral food for his body, spiritual food for his soul. 

4. It is clear from the Bible, 1) that the other 
eleven apostles acknowledged Saint Peter their head ; 
2) that Saint Peter did act, as the head of the Church 
of Christ. With that time the Bible ends, and history 
begins to show, that Saint Peter established his head- 
quarters at Rome, Italy, and that he and all his 263 
successors in office, through an uninterrupted line, did 
there act, as the head of the true Church of Christ, and 
were so acknowledged, as the head of that true Church 
of Christ, just as all the Presidents of the United 
States from Washington to Taft have held the same 
office with the same power. Washington in his office 
still lives in Taft; thus Saint Peter still lives in his 
office in Pope Pius X. 

Men have tried to disprove this great truth by many 
misconstructions of the Bible and by falsifications of 
the facts of history. But to no purpose. They have 
done so for the same reason, that "the fool says in his 



NINTH ARTICLE OF CREED. POPE. 247 

heart, there is no God", and others say, "there is no 
devil, there is no hell." 

5. The bishops are the successors of the other 
apostles in their office and are subject to the Pope. 
The priests are the successors of the seventy-two dis- 
ciples, chosen by our lord. Pope means father. He 
is the spiritual father, .adviser and provider of spiritual 
food of all the faithful children of Christ. The bishop 
is the spiritual father for all those in his diocese. The 
priest is the spiritual father of the faithful, because he 
in the bishop's name, the bishop in the Pope's name, 
the Pope in Christ's name, and, consequently, the 
priest in Christ's name provides spiritual food for the 
people by preaching the Word of God, by teaching the 
doctrine of Christ's Church, by offering up the holy 
sacrifice of the Mass and by administering the holy 
sacraments. That is their humble title, "Father", and 
courtesy, politeness and good manners demand, that 
you should address them by that humble title, whether 
you believe in their office and administrations, or not. 
The priest, consequently, is in reality the ambassador, 
the minister of Christ, (not only the minister of the 
gospel), the delegate of Christ and representative of 
Christ, he who takes Christ's place on earth for us. 

IV. Infallibility of Pope. 

It would avail us little, to have a visible head of the 
Church on earth, if that head were liable to err, and 
through him the whole institution of the Church. 

1. Christ also made provisions to prevent any such 
erring. He granted to Peter's supreme office, as the 
head of his Church, infallibility, and through him to 
all his lawful successors in the same office the same in- 
fallibility, when he said to him: "I have prayed for 



248 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

thee, that thy faith may not fail, and thou confirm thy 
brethren.'' (Jo. 21, 17.) Christ's prayer is surely 
heard, and, consequently, to maintain, that any one of 
Peter's lawful successors in his office, as supreme, visi- 
ble head of the true Church of Christ, failed, is to 
maintain, that Christ's prayer was not heard, or ceased 
to endure in its efficacy, and to maintain that, would be 
blasphemy. 

2. Infallibility here does not mean, that the Pope, 
as man cannot err, or cannot believe, what is wrong; 
nor does it mean, that he cannot sin ; he may sin and he 
goes to confession like other sinners. Both bad and 
ignorant men have misrepresented this doctrine, as has 
been misrepresented every other doctrine and practice 
of the Catholic Church ; yet she has endured in spite of 
all those numberless misrepresentations, and that is a 
good sign for her. 

3. Infallibility of the Pope means this: That the 
Holy Ghost does not permit the Pope to err in his 
supreme office, when he, under the following condi- 
tions, asi) supreme Shepherd and Teacher and Guide 
and supreme Judge he 2) defines a doctrine concern- 
ing faith and morals, already laid down in the Bible or 
Tradition, to 3) be held by the whole Church, which 
is called speaking "ex cathedra." Consequently, the 
Pope is not infallible in any or all kinds of conversa- 
tions, or preaching of a sermon, or in making rules and 
giving instructions or opinions on any subject, but only 
under those three conditions. 

4. There is nothing mysterious, nothing farfetched, 
about this matter. It is only, what any prudent organ- 
izer of a new society would do : Establish a supreme 
court of last resort and last appeal. In the United 
States Government* we have our United States Su- 



apostle's creed, true church 249 

preme Court, from which there is no appeal. That is 
precisely, what the Pope is, the supreme court of last 
appeal in the true Church of Christ, which Christ him- 
self has established just so sure, as he has established 
the Church herself. Even in every card-game there is 
one supreme trump^card, and every little, though ever 
so insignificant, human society has a head, and yet, 
men will be so illogical, as to deny, that Christ gave, 
and the Holy Ghost maintains, a supreme head for the 
true Church of God., 

V. Marks of the True Church. 

We have thus far from the Bible seen, that Jesus 
Christ established his visible and indestructible Church 
upon the visible and indestructible rock of Peter and 
his office, which lives in his lawful successor, as such 
supreme visible head of his Church, and that Christ 
himself and the Holy Spirit unerringly guide that visi- 
ble supreme head in his office. But this is not sufficient 
for us ; for men may and do put forth false claims for 
their human organizations to be the true Church of 
Christ. What, then, are the infallible marks of recog- 
nition of the true Church, and what are her distinctive 
signs from all false ones, that have been, and may be, 
organized by men? Every card in the card-deck has 
its distinctive sign, by which it is infallibly recognized 
and distinguished from all other cards. Thus the true 
Church of Christ must have her distinctive signs. What 
are they? Reason and the Bible will clearly tell us, 
that the true Church of Christ must have for its marks : 
i) unity, as God is one; 2) holiness, as God is holy; 
3) catholicity, as God is the Father of all; 4) apostoli- 
city, as Christ founded her upon the apostles with 
Peter at their head ; in other words : the true Church of 



250 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

Christ must be everything, that is comprised in her 
definition, (P. 240) and, vice versa, her definition must 
fully tell, what she is. She is, therefore, 1) one, 2) 
holy, 3) catholic, and 4) apostolic, four marks repre- 
sented in the card-deck by the four suits. 

1. The true Church of Christ must be one; for 
there is only "one God, one faith, one baptism," as 
the Bible says. The Catholic Church is one 1) in her 
Founder, Jesus Christ. She has no other founder. 2) 
She is one in her faith, believing the same divine reve- 
lations and the same authenticated traditions every- 
where at all times by every one. 3) She is one in her 
sacrifice of the New Law, the Mass, throughout the 
whole world, consequently, one in her divine worship, 
which is eminently proper, because God is the same 
everywhere. 4) She is one in the administration of 
her seven holy sacraments just so, as Christ instituted 
them, and that is proper, too, for the needs of men for 
salvation are the same everywhere and at all times and 
for all classes, conditions, races and colors. There- 
fore, the Catholic Church is the true Church of Christ. 
This four-fold oneness is again represented by the 
four suits in the one card-deck. 

2. The true Church of Christ must be holy. The 
Catholic Church is holy: 1) In her Founder, for 
Jesus Christ is infinite holiness itself; 2) In her doc- 
trine, whose source, divine inspiration and divine guid- 
ance by the Holy Spirit, is holy, and, if observed and 
followed, will inevitably lead men to holiness in this 
world and to heaven above, where nothing unholy can 
enter; 3) The sacraments, her means of grace and 
sanctification, are holy beyond dispute ; 4) She is holy 
in all of her members in heaven and in purgatory, and 
in many on earth, though we do not know them, and it 



NINTH ARTICLE OF CREED. TRUE CHURCH 251 

is not necessary for us to know. This four-fold holi- 
ness is, also, represented by the four suits in the 
card-deck. Consequently the Catholic Church is the 
true Church of Christ. Hence, it appears, that it is not 
impossible, nor even so very difficult, to become holy. 
You only need to earnestly will it. If you earnestly 
will it, you will constantly ask for God's powerful 
assistance, pray and frequently use the divinely consti- 
tuted means, the holy sacraments, for obtaining it. 

3. The true Churph of Christ must be Catholic. 
The word "Catholic" here means universal. The 
Catholic Church is universal : i ) as to time ; she has 
existed all the time uninterruptedly from the time, that 
Christ founded her on the rock of Peter, for she is for 
all times, and for all classes of men without the least 
distinction of nationality, language, race, or color, and 
she is the only Church, that makes no such distinctions. 
2) She is universal as to place. She is spread over the 
whole globe and speaks all the 3,034 languages of men. 
She numbers over 300,000,000. There is not a nation, 
not a country, not an island, where there are no Catho- 
lics, and there is not a language, in which there are not 
Catholic prayers ascending daily to the throne of Al- 
mighty God. She is universal as to her doctrine. She 
always has, does now and always will teach all of the 
doctrines of Christ, not only what men like to hear, and 
all of the Bible and all of the authenticated traditions 
in all places, at all times, to all men without any dis- 
tinction of classes, races, or color. 4) She is universal 
in the administration of all the seven sacraments of 
Christ, not only of some. This four-fold universality 
is again represented by the four suits of the card-deck. 
Consequently the Catholic Church is the true Church 
of Christ. 



252 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

4. The true Church of Christ must be apostolic. 
The Catholic Church is apostolic. 1) She dates back 
from the very time of the apostles, with whom Christ 
founded her with Peter, as the head. There she had 
her beginning. 2) She is apostolic, because her doc- 
trine in every particular agrees with the teachings of 
the apostles. There has been nothing added, nothing 
omitted. 3) She is apostolic, because all her authority 
is derived from the apostles in an unbroken line of suc- 
cession of popes, bishops and priests. Every one of 
them can trace his ordination back to the apostles. Is 
anything grander than this on earth? Can any thing 
inspire greater confidence in the administrations of the 
Catholic priest ? 4) She has the same sacrifice for her 
divine worship and the same seven holy sacraments, as 
the apostles had, who learned from their divine Mas- 
ter. Therefore, she is the true Church of Christ. This 
four-fold apostolicity is again represented by the four 
suits of the card-deck. It would seem impossible, that 
any one, knowing these beautiful representations of 
the playing cards, could misuse them. 

VI. The object of the true Church of Christ is to 
save all men. 

1. This purpose she fulfills through her ministers, 
Pope, bishops and priests on earth, and for that pur- 
pose Christ has given her the means : 1 ) saving doc- 
trine; 2) the sacrifice for her divine worship and 3) 
the seven holy sacraments for the sanctification of im- 
mortal souls. She wants all to be saved. That is the 
reason, why she makes no distinction of race, nation- 
ality, class, or color. She wants all to be guided with 
absolute certainty. That is the reason, why Christ has 



NINTH ARTICLE OF CREED. TRUE CHURCH 253 

made her infallible in her supreme visible head on 
earth. 

2. Does she always attain her object in saving 
men? Both yes and no. i) Yes, with all those, who 
belong to her and who remain faithfully in her to the 
end of their lives and who do faithfully everything 
that she prescribes in faith and in morals and the 
means of grace and sacraments and prayer. 2) No: 
a) With those, who have never been baptized and, con- 
sequently, have never belonged to her; b) with those, 
who have been baptized, but who have apostatized 
from her, without having been reconciled to God again ; 
c) with those, who belong to her externally, but who 
do not do her bidding, who do not observe the com- 
mandments of God and the precepts of the Church and 
who die in mortal sin. These three classes are repre- 
sented by the black three of spades. Thus you per- 
ceive, that there is nothing indefinite, nothing vague, 
no guess-work in and about the Catholic Church. 

OBJECTION SOLVED: "The Catholic Church 
has bad people among her members. Therefore, she 
cannot be the true Church of Christ/' This is no argu- 
ment against the Catholic Church; for the Church is 
for sinners. If all were saints, there would be no need 
of a Church. All are to go through the Church and 
thus become saints. She is likened to a fishnet, which 
contained both good and bad fishes, and to a harvest- 
field, wherein were good grain and cockle-weed at the 
same time. The Lord said, both should stay together 
until the time of harvest. Harvest time for souls is 
the particular judgment for each one and the general 
judgment for all, where God himself will do the sepa- 
rating. 



254 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

II. "Communion of Saints." 

The communion of saints means, that 

i. the Catholic Church has members a) in heaven, 
the saints, called the "Church triumphant" ; b) in pur- 
gatory, called the "suffering Church"; c) on earth 
called the "Church militant", for we are all still fight- 
ing against evil and for good. The communion of 
saints in the Catholic Church, consequently, signifies, 
that all those members can and do and should assist 
one another by their prayers and good works and all 
mutually help each other, just as all the cards of the 
card-deck in a game help each other. The Church tri- 
umphant is represented by the diamonds; the Church 
suffering, purgatory, is represented by clubs ; the 
Church militant, still digging, fighting, working to bury 
sin and dig up virtue, by spades, and all three are 
united by love, represented by hearts. Behold, the 
beautiful significations and appropriate representations 
of the cards in a card-deck. 

Is there any thing mysterious, foolish, unreasonable, 
about this doctrine on the communion of Saint ? Noth- 
ing is more natural ; nothing more charitable. Surely 
no one can object to it in any way. It does not mean, 
that Catholics adore saints, nor images, nor the Blessed 
Virgin Mary. It means only, that Catholics pray for 
one another on earth and ask the angels and saints in 
heaven to present their petitions to Jesus Christ as his 
special friends, and that both they and we ask God's 
mercy for the suffering souls in purgatory. Do we not 
do such things on earth in all other things? A man 
wants an appointive office. He gets an influential 
friend of his and of the President to go to ask it and 
to present his petition to the President for him. That 
is precisely, what our communion of saints means, get- 



NINTH ARTICLE OF CREED. PURGATORY 255 

ting someone, who is nearer and dearer to Christ to 
present our petitions to him. Why is it called commu- 
nion of "saints"? Because some of them &re saints 
and all others want to become saints. Is that foolish? 
Can any thing be grander, more consoling? If we can 
and do exercise charity in this life by praying for one 
another, why cut off that bond of charity by death, when 
after death that bond should become stronger and 
closer, because more spiritual ? 

III. Purgatory. 

What is purgatory ? Purgatory is a place, or condi- 
tion, in the other world, a middle state between heaven 
and hell, where some souls go to suffer for a time, to be 
purified of the remnants of sin or punishment due to 
sin, before they can enter heaven. 

I. What does the Bible say on purgatory? i) "It 
is a holy and a wholesome thought to pray for the dead, 
that they may be loosed from their sins." (II. Mac. 
12, 46.) a) Nothing defiled can enter heaven. Conse- 
quently, those, who are in heaven, do not need our 
prayer, b) Out of hell there is no redemption. Con- 
sequently, our prayer can do the damned no good, c) 
There, consequently, is, there must be, another place in 
the other world, where faults and debts for sin less 
grievous than mortal sin, can be expiated, and that 
place is, what we call purgatory. 2) Jesus knew, that 
the Jews offered prayers and sacrifices for the dead. 
Did he tell them, it was wrong? On the contrary, he 
speaks of some sins, that are not forgiven in this world, 
nor in the next. Consequently, there must be some 
sins, or debts for sin, that may be suffered for in the 
next world, before heaven can be entered, and that 
place, v/here that suffering takes place, is precisely, 



256 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

what we call purgatory. 3) Saint Paul asked Timothy 
to pray for a good friend of his who had died. Why 
this, if there were no purgatory? Now, what holy 
Scripture in the Old Testament tells us to do, and what 
Christ and Saint Paul teach us, that we do, when we 
pray and offer up the holy sacrifice of the Mass and 
perform other good works for our departed dead. 
Consequently, the Bible plainly teaches, that there is a 
purgatory. 

2. Reason itself perceives a purgatory. You know, 
you feel yourself, that you are not worthy to come into 
God's holy presence, as you are now in your sinful 
state, even at your best. Now, your loved ones dead 
were persons like yourself. They had their little faults 
at their best and possibly died with them; perhaps, 
with many imperfections on their soul. They cannot 
enter heaven, and, if their faults were not grievous 
wilful transgressions against the law of God, they were 
not mortal sins and did, consequently, not deprive 
them of the sanctifying grace of God and did not, 
therefore, deserve the everlasting punishment of hell ; 
yet, they must be cleansed somewhere, before they can 
enter heaven. That cleansing place, or condition in the 
other world, is purgatory. 

3. No doctrine of the Catholic Church is more nat- 
ural and consoling. If there were no other reason, 
why the Catholic Church is the only true Church of 
Christ, than this one, that she teaches and believes in 
a purgatory, it alone ought to be sufficient. Death is 
sad at its best. How terribly sad to think, we could 
not help those after their death, whom we loved in this 
life, and who loved us, and to make yourself believe, 
that they are gone straight to heaven and to have a 
sermon preached over them that places them among 



NINTH ARTICLE OF CREED. PURGATORY 257 

the angels and saints, does not answer the require- 
ments of the human heart. 

4. How can we help the souls in purgatory? By 
all kinds of prayers, by all kinds of good works of 
mercy and works of charity, almsdeeds, the holy sacri- 
fice of the Mass and by offering up the worthy recep- 
tion of the holy sacraments and holy communion for 
them. 

5. Do they need our help ? No one is more in need 
of it; for they cannot; help themselves, for for them 
the time of grace is over and the time of suffering has 
begun, and if those, for whom you offer up prayers and 
good works, do not need them, God will attribute them 
to others, who do need them, and they will surely inter- 
cede for you before God's throne, so that, perhaps, 
you may escape purgatory. 

6. Do they wish our help ? They cry to us contin- 
ually in the words of holy Scripture : "Have pity on 
me, have pity on me, at least you, my friends. " (Job 
19, 21.) 

7. If you could open the lid of purgatory, you 
would, perhaps, find there your own father, mother, 
brother, sister, wife, husband, son, brother, friend. 
Consequently, reason and the Bible clearly teach, that 
there is a purgatory, and the human heart, God's own 
creation, demands it. Do you believe it all? If so, 
you are in so far a Catholic. 

IV. Veneration of Angels and Saints. 

What does the veneration of angels and saints mean? 
It means, 

1. That we honor and venerate and respect the 
angels and saints in heaven on account of their sanctity 
and as God's friends, who are secured in glory, and 



258 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

that we in turn obtain their intercessions for us. What 
does the Bible say about this doctrine and practice? 
i) Josue venerated the angel, who appeared to him. 
(Jos. 5, 15.) 2) The sons of the prophets did the same 
thing before Eliseus. (IV. Kgs. 2, 15.) 3) How 
greatly God himself honored Mary, his Mother has 
been amply demonstrated. (P. 195-210.) 

2. There is nothing mysterious about it; nothing 
is more natural. We do the same thing with persons, 
worthy of honor and respect on earth; why not for 
those in heaven? The idea, that all tie? of friendship 
and charity, veneration and respect, are cut off with 
cruel death, cannot come from a good spirit, but must 
come from him, who tried to cast God out of heaven 
and to build his throne above the stars, but who did 
not succeed. 

3. How can we venerate the angels and saints in a 
proper manner ? By asking them to pray for us before 
the throne of God. For what? For all things that are 
needful and useful to pray for. 

4. What about relics of saints? Nothing mysteri- 
ous about that. People do the same thing with relics, 
photographs, keepsakes of those of their loved ones 
and great ones on earth. Why should all such affec- 
tions and signs of endearments be cut off by cruel 
death ? There is absolutely no reason for it, excepting, 
that it is the devil's doctrine, who is jealous of the 
saints. (P. J2.) 

5. OBJECTION SOLVED. "The angels and 
saints are not omniscient and, consequently, do not 
know of our petitions to them." God is omniscient, 
and we surely may trust him for informing them, and 
our guardian angel is with us, and it is his business to 
bring our prayers to the throne of God. 



apostle's creed 259 

6. "Why not pray to God directly." You surely 
can, may and should, but it is a sign of humility, and 
humility is the foundation of all virtue, to ask those, 
whose prayer may avail more with God, than your 
own, to present it through them. Hence, you perceive, 
there is nothing vague, nothing unnatural, nothing 
foolish, nothing but what is founded on right reason 
and the Bible in all the teachings and practices of the 
Catholic Church. It is all in the Bible. Do you be- 
lieve it all? If so, then you are in so far a Catholic. 

CHAPTER III. 



The Tenth Article of the Apostle's Creed: "For- 
giveness of Sin." Sin. Forgiveness of Sin. 
Indulgences. 

In the card-deck sin is represented by the black 
spade-card, for sin blackens the soul. It does so for 
high and low, for all races and colors alike ; that is the 
meaning of the king, queen and jack of spades. 

I. What is Sin? 

I. Sin is any wilful transgression of the Law of 
God. In order to commit sin, consequently, three 
things are necessary: i) There must be a law. The 
voice of conscience is God's natural law. Where there 
is no law, there can be no sin ; 2) we must know of that 
law; 3) we must transgress that law wilfully. This 
transgression may take place a) by thoughts, b) de- 
sires, c) wishes, d) intentions, e) imaginations, f) 
words, and, also, g) by silence, where duty demands us 
to speak, h) by deeds, and i) omissions of good deeds, 
which the law demands of us. 



260 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

2. Sins are distinguished as i) original, 2) actual, 
which again is divided into a) mortal and b) venial 
sin. 

1 ) Original sin is the sin committed by Adam and 
Eve in paradise and in which we are conceived and 
born. (P. 182.) 

2) Mortal sin is such a grievous wilful transgres- 
sion of the Law of God, that it deprives us of the spir- 
itual life, of the sanctifying grace of God, deserves 
eternal damnation and will be so punished in hell for 
all eternity, if not confessed and repented of and for- 
given in this life. Mortal sins are not all equally griev- 
ous. Some are more malicious, than others, as reason 
can readily perceive. 

How are mortal sins forgiven? a) By a perfect 
act of contrition, with which the intention of going to 
confession at the first opportunity must be joined, and 
b) by confession with all the necessary requirements 
therefor. (P. 331.) 

3) Venial sin is not a small offence against God, 
for there is no offence against God, that is small ; but 
it is a less grievous offence against God, than a mortal 
sin. It is called venial, because forgiveness of it can 
be more easily obtained than of mortal sin. 

How are venial sins forgiven? a) In this life by all 
kinds of prayers, good works, acts of contrition, patient 
sufferings, but the surest way is by a good confession ; 
b) in the other life in purgatory by suffering and by the 
prayers and good works of the angels in heaven and by 
the prayers and good works and the sacraments and 
the sacrifice of the Mass offered up by the Church mili- 
tant on earth. (P. 254.) 

3. Mortal sin delivers us over into the power of the 
devil, and, if we die in it, sends us to hell. But there 



TENTH ARTICLE OF CREED. SIX. SPADES 



261 



is always something, that precedes mortal sin. It is 
as a rule, not a mortal sin, that is committed first. It 
is generally venial sin, opening the way to mortal sin. 
Consequently, appears the importance of avoiding ve- 
nial sin and of not making light of any faults. "He, 
who spurns little things, will fall little by little. " (Eccl. 
19,1.) No one at once becomes a great criminal, blas- 
phemer, sinner. We begin with little things and end 
with big ones. Hence, avoid venial sin and then you 
will not fall into mortal sin. 

4. Two kinds of mortal sins deserve a special men- 
tion on account of their heinousness : a) The seven 
capital sins: 1) pride, 2) covetousness, 3) lust, 4) 
anger, 5) gluttony, 6) envy, 7) sloth. They are so 
called, because many other 
sins flow from them as 
their fountain source. 
They are represented by 
the seven of spades, be- 
cause they bring death to 
the soul and by the seven 
of clubs because they de- 
serve everlasting punish- 
ment. 

b) The nine sins com- 
mitted by others by the 
co-operation of others : 1) 
To advise sin; 2) to com- 
mand sin ; 3) to consent to 
the sin of another; 4) to 
excite others to sin; 5) 
to praise the sin of another ; 6) to conceal the sin of an- 
other, when duty calls for its report to the proper au- 
thority; 7) for superiors not to punish sin in inferiors; 




262 



CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 



8) to help sinning; 9) to defend the sins of others. 
They are represented by the nine of spades, because 
they spiritually blacken the soul ; by the nine of clubs, 
because they will be severely dealt with by the Omnis- 
cient Judge. 

II. Indulgences. 
Christ has left the power to forgive sin to his 
Church. During his life-time on earth Christ him- 
self preached and taught and performed miracles 
and drove out devils and offered up the holy sacri- 
fice of the Mass at his Last Supper and distributed 
holy communion and forgave sins and all punish- 
ment due to sin. But it is clear from the Bible, that 
he gave the power to do all this to his apostles, and 
through them to all their lawful successors in office, to 
perform all those offices to the end of time, for he knew 
that all men at all times and places would be in need of 

all those ministrations. 
Consequently, he must 
have left, also, the power 
to forgive sin, which he 
did, saying: "Whose sins, 
you shall forgive, they 
are forgiven/' 

2. We must distinguish 
between forgiveness of sin 
and the guilt of sin and of 
the punishment due to sin, 
after the sin itself has been 
forgiven. Eternal punish- 
ment is always forgiven 
with mortal sin, which de- 
serves eternal punishment ; 
but not always all of the 




TENTH ARTICLE OF CREED. INDULGENCE 263 

temporal punishment due to mortal sin, after it has 
been forgiven, nor the temporal punishment due to 
venial sin, after it has been forgiven.. Forgiveness of 
the punishment due to sin cannot be thought of, until 
the sin, as to its guilt, has been forgiven. Those rem- 
nants of punishments, due to sin, may be forgiven by 
the same means, as venial sin is forgiven, and by 

3. Indulgences. What are they? Indulgence is i) 
not a permission to commit sin ; there is no such thing 
in the Catholig Church ; there never was and never will 
be ; 2) it is not a license to commit sin : there is no such 
thing in the Catholic Church; 3) it is not buying the 
right to sin; there can be no such thing; 4) it is not 
buying the forgiveness of sin, nor 5) the punishment 
due to sin; 6) it is not the way past hell into purga- 
tory; 7 J one hundred days indulgence does not mean 
one hundred days of sin. There is no such thing. 
Indulgence does mean the remission of a part or of 
all the punishment due to sin, after the sin itself has 
been forgiven. The Catholic Church does not sell 
such remission of punishment. Can she grant it? 
What does the Bible say? Jesus said to Saint Peter, 
his visible head of his visible Church on earth, and 
through him to all his lawful successors in office : "To 
thee I will give the keys of the kingdom of heaven: 
Whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, shall be 
loosed, also, in heaven." (Mt. 16, 19.) Christ made 
no exception of any kind. To let some one into heaven 
by the keys, it is frequently necessary for Saint Peter 
and his successors in office to forgive not only sin, but, 
also, the punishment due to sin, after the sin itself has 
been forgiven. When Jesus later on gave that same 
power to the other apostles, he was simply ordaining 
them, because he was then still the visible head of his 



264 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

Church, just as he himself granted not only forgive- 
ness of sin, but, also, indulgence of the punishment, 
due to sin to the penitent thief, because he was then 
still visible on earth. 

4. How are indulgences obtained, or for what does 
the Church grant them? For all those same things, 
by which venial sin may be forgiven. The Church 
may prescribe any good work or any prayer for obtain- 
ing indulgences, and the conditions therefor must be 
faithfully fulfilled. 

5. Indulgences are of two kinds: 1) plenary, full 
forgiveness of all the punishments due to sin; 2) par- 
tial, only a shortening of the time, or a decreasing of 
the severity of the punishment still due to sin, after the 
sin has been forgiven. ♦ 

6. There is nothing mysterious about this belief 
and doctrine. It is clearly founded on the Bible and 
reason. The very same thing is done every day in our 
civil and criminal courts. Judges will release punish- 
ment, all or in part, upon the good behavior and other 
good works and conditions, and that is nothing else 
than granting indulgence. Prisoners get time to their 
credit for good behavior. That is indulgence. Even 
in many games of cards you can have an allowance 
made, indulgence granted, for what you do, and the 
same thing should not exist in the religion and Church 
of Jesus Christ ! How unreasonable. Christ's leaving 
the power of granting indulgences to his Church, also, 
teaches us the absolute completeness in his Church of 
every thing that is necessary for preparing souls to go 
to heaven, just as Christ did it and wills it. Do you 
believe it all? If so, you are in so far a Catholic. 



apostle's creed, sad farewell 265 

CHAPTER IV. 



The Eleventh Article of the Apostle's Creed : "Res- 
urrection of the Body." 

This article teaches, and by it we profess our faith 
in this truth, that at the consummation of the world 
our sbul will be reunited to our body. What does the 
Bible say about it? It says that all men must die and 
that all will rise again. Man consists of a body and of 
a soul. The spade-card represents both sin and death. 
The king, queen, and 'jack of spades signify, that sin 
will bring its punishment of death upon all, high and 
low, without any distinction of person, class, condition, 
race, or color. 

I. Death. 

i. What is death? Death is the separation of the 
soul from the body. The body goes back to earth ; the 
soul goes to eternity. But death is more: i) It is a 
separation from all, that you hold dear : from your 
home, your property, your money, your business, your 
family, your friends, from all, whom you loved and 
who loved you; 2) from all, with whom you sinned, 
and from all, to whom you ought to be thankful; 3) 
from God's mercy and 4) from time of repentance 
for your sins. 5) It is a long and lasting farewell. 
There are many sad farewells in this life ; but they are 
nothing like death. Death gives you no assurance of a 
happy meeting again. 6) Death will be the beginning 
of all rottenness; you will become a loathsome object 
to every one even to those, who loved you in this life. 
They will seek to get rid of you quickly and they will 
feel relieved, when you are buried. You will soon be 
forgotten. In time your whole body will decay and 
fall into dust, so that not a particle of it can be seen. 



266 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

2. There are three kinds of deaths. Man dies 
either in innocence after baptism, or as a repentant and 
forgiven sinner, or in mortal sin. Live so now in the 
true faith and religion and Church of God, that your 
death may be a happy one. The frequent thought of 
death, judgment, hell and heaven, will help you tp pre- 
pare for a good death. 'Think of the four last things 
and you will not sin," says the Bible. (P. 219.) 

II. Resurrection of the Body. 

1. What does the Bible say about it? 1) "I know, 
that my Redeemer liveth, and that I will arise again 
on the last day." (Job 19, 25.) 2) "The King of this 
world will awaken us to eternal life at the resurrec- 
tion." (II. Mac. 7, 9.) 3) Jesus himself said: "Who 
believes in the Son, him shall I awaken on the last 
day." (Jo. 6,38.) 

2. What does reason say? It tells us that the jus- 
tice of God demands, that the whole man, both the 
body and the soul of the just, shall be rewarded in 
heaven, or the whole man, the body and the soul of the 
reprobate, shall be punished in hell ; for both have par- 
ticipated in both good and bad works. Consequently, 
because God is infinitely just, there will be a resurrec- 
tion of all, both good and bad, and, consequently, all 
will arise in the same bodies, which they had on earth. 
The bodies of the just will be glorified; the bodies of 
the reprobate will, also, be transformed, but not for 
glory, but for punishment. As plain and sweet a truth 
as that of the resurrection of the body is, there have 
been and still are men, who deny it ; but they do so for 
the same reason, that "the fool says in his heart, there 
is no God," because their lives are such, that they have 
just reason to believe, they will not rise gloriously. 



ELEVENTH ARTICLE OF CREED. HAPPY MEETING 267 

What a happy meeting the resurrection will be for the 
good, to meet again their own bodies, their closest, 
dearest, lifetime friend. But what a sad meeting, too, 
for the reprobate. Let us so live now, that our resur- 
rection may be a glorious one. It is all in the Bible. 
Do you believe it all? If so, you are in so far a Cath- 
olic. 

CHAPTER V. 



The Twelfth Article of the Apostle's Creed : "And 
life everlasting. Amen." Heaven. Hell. 

This article teaches us, and we profess our faith in 
that great truth, that after this earthly life, there will 
be another life, which will last forever. That eternal 
life will be of two kinds: i) either a happy one in 
heaven, or 2) an unhappy one in hell. 

I. Heaven. 

What is heaven ? Heaven is a place, where God 
dwells in his glory, visible to all the angels and saints, 
and where the angels and saints enjoy unchanging 
bliss and happiness forever, free from all suffering, 
dangers, trials, tribulations, sadness, disappointments 
and sin. The joys of heaven are so great, that no 
tongue can tell, nor pen describe them. If we could 
fully understand the great mercy and goodness of God 
in redeeming us, we could understand heaven; for he 
died, that we might obtain heaven, and he left us the 
means for obtaining it in his holy Catholic Church, as 
we have amply seen. Look frequently up to and be- 
yond the starry heavens, where heaven is, and awaken 
a holy longing for it and make a firm resolution to avoid 
the one only thing, sin, that excludes man from heaven. 



268 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

It is easy to believe in heaven. Many find it not so 
easy to believe in 

II. The other place in eternity, namely, hell. 

i. What is hell? Hell is that place of eternal tor- 
ment, which God has created for the punishment of the 
rebellious angels and of the unregenerated sinners 
among men. Men have tried to deny the existence of 
hell. They do so for the same reason, that they deny 
the existence of the devil and the immortality of the 
soul and the resurrection of the body and the existence 
of God, and they do so for the same reasons that "the 
fool says in his heart, there is no God," because they 
have good reason to wish, there were no hell. But 
there is a hell just as sure, as there is a God and a 
heaven ; for the same infallible source of proof, divine 
revelation, as recorded in the Bible, and the same infal- 
lible teaching Church, tell us so. Others say: "God 
is too good, too merciful, to keep a place of everlasting 
punishment for man." Hell is not against God's good- 
ness, nor mercy, but it is in perfect harmony with 
those attributes of God. (P. 1 07-11 8.) What does the 
Bible say? 

2. 1) "The smoke of their torments shall arise for- 
ever and ever." (Apoc. 14, 11.) That is hell. 2) 
The reprobate, after they shall have received their sen- 
tence on the last judgment day, "shall go into everlast- • 
ing torments." (Mt. 25, 46.) That is hell. 3) "It is 
better to enter heaven a cripple, than to go into ever- 
lasting fire in hell." (Mar. 9, 44.) There surely is a 
hell. 

3. Who goes there? All, who die in mortal sin. 
Think over the many sins committed against the ten 
commandments of God and the six precepts of the 



TWELFTH ARTICLE OF CREED. HELL 269 

Church and against the voice of conscience and try to 
figure out, if you can, how many millions of people 
take continually chances of incurring the everlasting 
punishment of hell. 

4. There are six stations on the road to hell, repre- 
sented to us by the six of spades; i) Carelessness. Be 
careless in the exercise of your religious duties and 
you will get there. 2) Occasions of sin. Do not avoid 
them and you will get there. 3) Bad habit. Persevere 
in sin and you will get there. 4) Postponement of 
repentance and conversion and acceptance of the true 
faith, the true religion, the true Church, will land you 
there. 5) Unbelief. Continue to harden your heart 
against God's truths and you will get there. 6) Despair. 
After you have had the misfortune to fall into sin, do 
not repent, nor confess them, and you will be sure to 
get to hell. 

5. No one goes to hell except through his own 
fault. Out of hell there is no redemption. 

6. The torments of hell will never get less. You 
will never get used to them. 

7. The hellish company there will not make it any 
easier, only all the worse. 

8. What do they do there ? Suffering most excru- 
ciating pain of all the senses and agony and remorse 
of the soul, 'memory and conscience, cursing them- 
selves and all others, the angels and saints and God. 
Oh ! what a horrid thought, that there is danger for us 
to get there. Oh ! Let us so live that we will never be 
in hell. 

CONCLUSION OF DIVISION I OF PART III. 

You have now clearly had explained to you all of the 
teachings of the Catholic Church on her tenets of faith. 



270 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

You have seen, that every one is strictly from the 
Bible, and that there is nothing vague, nothing unplain, 
no guess-work about her teaching. She is, what God 
wills her to be. She has all the means of grace, of for- 
giveness of sin and of remission of punishment, due to 
sin. She is the most perfect system of any thing on 
earth. She is for every one. She makes no distinc- 
tion of persons, class, race, or color. You surely have 
come to the inevitable conclusion, that she is the safest 
Church for you to belong to, in order to be saved. 
You surely agree with her in 99 things, if not in all. 
Do you want to stay out of her on account of that one 
thing, that you may and likely do not understand? 
Surely, that cannot be. If you do not belong to her, go 
to the nearest priest and receive further instruction 
and information and be baptized and experience, how 
happy you will be to feel the absolute security of being 
in the right Church. It is to no purpose to tell us, that 
we Catholics are too exclusive, excluding all other 
churches from belonging to the true Church of Christ. 
It is not the Catholics that are exclusive: it is the 
Bible ; it is God ; for the Bible clearly teaches, and that 
is the reason why the Catholic Church does the same, 
that Jesus Christ founded only one Church and that 
that one Church is the Catholic Church, for she has no 
other founder, than Jesus Christ. 



PART FOUR. 



SECTION I. 
Christian Hope. 

The one of diamonds (ace), represents faith; the 
two of diamonds represents hope; as the two of dia- 
monds presupposes the one of diamonds, just so hope 
presupposes faith. Faith is the groundwork on the 
road to heaven. Hope is that, which makes that road 
walkable. Hence, appears the necessity of having a 
thorough understanding of hope. What is hope? 
Hope is expecting something good with confidence, 
what someone has promised us and because he has 
promised it, just as faith is holding true something, 
what someone has said and because he has said it. 
Men's promises do not give us absolute assurance ; for 
they may deceive, change their mind, or may be unable 
to keep their promises ; nor is there question here about 
human hope, but of religious, christian hope, that hope, 
by which we firmly, perseveringly and longingly ex- 
pect from God eternal salvation and all the means, 
necessary and useful to obtain it, because he has prom- 
ised all that to us and because he both can and will 
| keep his promises. He can do so, because he is al- 
| mighty ; he wills to do so, because he is all-good, and 
! all-faithful, and because his own divine Son, our 
Savior, Jesus Christ has merited it all for us by his 
redemption, and because the Holy Spirit asks it for us. 
(Rom. 8, 26.) This kind of hope is that divine virtue, 
which God, like faith, infuses into the human soul in 



272 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

and by the holy sacrament of baptism, and which we, 
after we have obtained the use of reason, must nour- 
ish by prayer, good works, the sacrifice of the Mass 
and the sacraments, for it is there a plant, just like 
faith. (P. 177.) Consequently, the three divine per- 
sons have their equal share in the divine virtue of hope, 
as they have in faith, which the Father has published, 
the Son taught and which the Holy Ghost preserves. 

But, as faith is no true faith, if we do not rejoice 
in it and do not seek to shape our lives according to it 
and by prayer, good works, sacrifice and the sacra- 
ments seek to obtain the graces necessary to do so, just 
so is our hope no true hope, if we do not rejoice in 
God's promises and in the expectation of their fulfill- 
ment and seek by the same means, as those for faith, 
to make ourselves worthy of those promises. Conse- 
quently, hope without our own co-operation does not 
deserve the name, but is presumption. As in cards, 
the player must do his part even with the best hand, 
just so it is with the afifairs of our salvation : we must 
do our part, although God has already amply done his 
part. 

2. What must we hope? In cards a fragment of 
the one (ace) would be of little use; just so will that 
faith, which believes only some things of what God has 
revealed and what he proposes to us through his holy 
Catholic Church to be believed, helps but little to sal- 
vation; for it will not be the true Catholic faith. A 
piece of the two-spot in cards will be of little use: 
just so will that hope be a poor hope, which does not 
hope all, what God has promised. 

1) There are only two spots on the two of dia- 
monds. That means, that we must not hope more, nor 
less, than what God has promised. The two of dia- 



CHRISTIAN HOPE. DIAMOND TWO 273 

monds has two spots. They represent the two great 
things, which God has promised us, and, consequently, 
the two things, that we must hope for. He has prom- 
ised us 

a) eternal life. All through the Bible God has prom- 
ised only eternal life, eternal happiness, never-end- 
ing joys, never-fading- glory in heaven, not temporal 
blessings, not worldly honors, not earthly prosperity, 
nor wealth in this life. Consequently, those sin against 
hope and have not the true christian hope necessary for 
salvation, i) who, although they know, that God has 
promised eternal salvation as a reward for fidelity to 
him, nevertheless, are so much taken up with the af- 
fairs of this world, business, pleasures, laziness, that 
they pay no attention to it; 2) who treat the affair of 
hope of eternal salvation as of secondary importance ; 
but seek, as of primary importance, the affairs of busi- 
ness, pleasure, comfort, honors, popularity and success 
in this life, and to obtain those things in this life, they 
try to make an external show of being good. 

b) As to faith God wants us to believe all without 
any exception, what he has revealed, and does not 
want us to guess at what that all is, but has it taught 
to us by his infallible Church, just so God does not 
expect us to have hope only for eternal life, but, also, 
for the means to obtain it, which means he has, also, 
left us, and which are 1) the holy sacraments, 2) the 
observance of the commandments of God and the pre- 
cepts of his Church, 3) the confession of and penance 
for sins committed. .All through the Bible this truth, 
is, also, laid down very clearly. 

2) Two kinds of people sin against true hope: a) 
Those who have only their own sinfulness before them 
all the time and look only at their unworthiness and 



274 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

leave out God's grace and mercy, because that is de- 
spondency, a faint-heartedness, which is displeasing 
to God. It is good for us to have our sins before us 
for the purpose of repenting of them and confessing 
them and doing penance for them; but, when this is 
done, do your duty and God will do the rest, b) The 
other class is exactly the. opposite : they look solely to 
God's grace, goodness and mercy and expect to be 
saved without their own co-operation with God's 
grace. That is a foolish presumption of salvation. 
God has placed the means of salvation at the disposal 
and within the reach of every man, and it is for each 
one to make use of them. They are found in the Cath- 
olic Church, where God has placed them. Though 
presumption, over-confidence, over-hope, and diffi- 
dence, under-confidence, under-hope, are the two great 
mistakes against christian hope, it does not follow, that 
we are not to hope with a certain amount of holy fear ; 
for no one is absolutely certain of salvation. This 
truth is very clear from the Bible in many instances. 
Those, who claim and pretend to be absolutely certain 
of being in the state of holiness and of being saved, 
only delude themselves and are ensnared by the devil 
through such false, unfounded security, for the Bible 
says, "work out your salvation with fear and tremb- 
Hng." (P. 337-) 

3) We not only may but should hope for every- 
thing, that is not alone absolutely necessary, but, also, 
serviceable and useful for salvation. Man is a pilgrim 
on earth. For a successful journey one needs some 
money, clothes and provisions. But, if one took along 
so much, that he would be loaded down with it, it 
would become a hindrance, instead of a help. Just so 
it is with the journey into heaven. Good health, cloth- 



CHRISTIAN HOPE. DIAMOND TWO 275 

ing, food, habitation, some money and some worldly 
goods properly used may be very serviceable on the 
way through life into heaven. Consequently, we have 
a right to, also, hope for these things from Almighty 
God, after we have done our reasonable share to obtain 
and preserve them.- Consequently, the true christian 
hope is from God and rests in God, just as the true 
christian faith is from God and rests in God. 

3. Why must we hope? Because it is absolutely 
necessary for salvation. Without hope no one will do 
any thing to obtain it, and, consequently, will not ob- 
tain it. Hope is necessary even for success in this life, 
both private and public. Where there is no hope, 
nothing will be begun, nothing attempted, nothing ac- 
complished. Life is so full of sorrows. Hope of 
relief from, and hope of reward for, them in heaven, 
if we bear them with patience, as a gift from the hand 
of God, is the only thing, that makes them bearable. 

4. In the states of California and Florida in the 
United States of America are fruit trees which bear 
different kind of delicious fruit, for instance, oranges, 
lemons, plums, apricots, peaches. That is a great 
figure of the true christian hope. It bears different 
kinds of spiritual fruit: i) Christian hope increases 
and strengthens faith ; for what one firmly hopes, one 
loves to believe. 2) It inflames love for God ; for, if one 
firmly trusts to obtain from God eternal salvation and 
all the means to obtain it and from God's mercy hopes 
for the forgiveness of sin in the holy sacrament of 
penance, as it is had in the Catholic Church, then true 
love for God, for his holy religion and for his holy 
Church and for her sacraments and for her ministers, 
will burn ardently in his soul. 3) True christian hope 
purifies and multiplies true love for our fellowman, 



276 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

without any distinction of race or color, considering 
all, as God's own creatures, created according to his 
own image and likeness, and hopes and works for eter- 
nal salvation for each and all without any distinction 
of race or color or position. Consequently, he will 
seek to keep others, also, without distinction of race or 
color out of sin. 4) Christian hope makes men strong 
against sin. The truly hopeful a) easily overcome 
pride, for they realize, that without God they are noth- 
ing and have nothing, but that all good comes from 
God; b) they easily overcome avarice; for they do not 
place all their hope in worldly things, but long for 
heavenly goods; c) they are more secure against im- 
purities, for they will not exchange eternal happiness 
for a moment of sinful lust; d) they are more secure 
against jealousy, anger and hatred against their fellow- 
man, because hope teaches them to look upon all with- 
out distinction of race or color for God's sake and that 
the more easily they forgive others, the more easily 
will God forgive them their sins. 5) It facilitates 
good thoughts and good works of religion and charity ; 
for it tells them, that a great reward awaits them in 
heaven. 6) The most precious fruit of the true chris- 
tian hope is perfect trust in God at the hour of death. 
This is the greatest consolation in our last hour. We 
will all have to pass through it. Consequently, it is of 
the utmost importance, that we obtain true hope and 
nourish it during our good and happy days, in order to 
make sure of having it, when we most need it Hope 
will teach us to accept death wilfully from the hand 
of God ; to look upon it as our transition from this mis- 
erable life to a better world, as the end of our weary, 
earthly journey. Practice in cards makes a good 
player; just so it is with hope. 



CHRISTIAN HOPE. DIAMOND TWO 277 

5. From all the foregoing it is clear, that we often 
ought to excite ourselves to an act of hope in our mind 
and heart. Our exercise in it will make our hope 
stronger, and it cannot be too strong. It will preserve 
us against over-confidence and under-confidence. It 
will increase all its precious fruits. We ought to do so, 
when we come to the use of reason and when we are 
tempted to sin ; when some calamity or sadness befalls 
us; when we are about to go to confession and holy 
communion and when we come into danger of death. 

6. How can we make an act of hope? i) By all 
kinds of prayers, of which the Lord's prayer is the 
most familiar, easiest and best, for it includes any 
thing and everything, for which any one may pray to 
God and which any one may desire from God, every- 
thing for this life and everything for the next. All the 
seven petitions in the Lord's prayer are acts of hope. 

2) It is of importance, that we frequently exercise our- 
selves in such brief prayers, as these : "Lord, help me ! 
God, have mercy on me ! Jesus, do not forsake m.e!" 

3) By actions, as, for instance, folding the hands, 
kneeling down, looking longfully up to heaven, or at 
a sacred picture or statue. The Catholic Church 
teaches all this concerning the sweet virtue of hope. It 
is all founded on the Bible. Do you believe it all and 
hope for it all ? If so, then you are in so far a Catholic. 

SECTION II. 

CHAPTER I. 



Christian Charity. 

The one (ace) of diamonds represents faith. The 
two of diamonds represents hope. As the two of dia- 
monds presupposes the one, just so hope presupposes 



278 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

faith. The three of diamonds represents charity. As 
the three of diamonds presupposes the one and the two 
of diamonds, just so charity presupposes faith and hope, 
and yet charity is the greatest of the three. Great is 
faith, for it is the ground-work on the road to heaven. 
Great is hope, for it makes that road walkable. Greater, 
however, than faith and hope is charity; for it marks 
the road by many guide-boards, so that, no one need 
miss it. Hence, appears the necessity of charity for 
salvation. Faith and hope are only for this world. 
Beyond the grave there is neither faith, nor hope, for 
faith after death turns into knowledge, and hope into 
fruition. Charity, however, lasts for -all eternity. 
Hence, appears the importance of a thorough instruc- 
tion on charity. 

Division 1. Love of God. 

i. What is christian, religious charity? A Jewish 
doctor of the law asked Jesus : "What is the greatest 
commandment of the law?" Jesus answered: "Thou 
shalt love the Lord, thy God, with thy whole heart, 
with thy whole soul and with thy whole mind and with 
all thy power. This is the greatest and the first com- 
mandment ; but the other is like to this one : Thou 
shalt love thy neighbor, as thyself. On these two 
commandments depends the whole law." (Mc. 12, 
31.) Under pain of eternal damnation God leaves us 
no choice to have true faith, or none : just so he leaves 
us no choice to love him and our fellowman, or not. 
He commands us to do so. Love is of different kinds : 
1 ) Natural love, which parents feel for their children ; 
natural sympathy for the weak, sick, suffering and 
poor; 2) Selfish love; if one loves others, because he 
may obtain gain or benefits from them ; for instance, a 



CHRISTIAN CHARITY. DIAMOND THREE 279 

business man may love a customer for the sake of per- 
sonal gain; 3) Carnal, impure, love does not deserve 
the name; for that is simply lust, not love; 4) True 
christian charity, christian love, is that divine virtue 
freely infused, like faith and hope, into the soul in bap- 
tism, and by which we love a) God above all, as the 
highest good for his own sake, and b) our neighbor, 
as c) ourselves for God's sake. 

2. How can you exercise this love for God? 1) 
By learning to know him according to your under- 
standing, as has been explained in Part III; 2) by 
earnestly wishing to do his holy will. For all this it is 
not necessary to have great learning. All you need, 
is a good and willing heart. God's powerful grace will 
do the rest. He has already given you the beginning 
of his holy love in the holy sacrament of baptism, or 
will do so, when you receive baptism. 

3. Why should we love God? Purely on account 
of himself, his own nature and wonderful attributes. 
That is the perfect love. Imperfect is our love, 
if we love God on account of the reward, which 
he will give us for our fidelity to him, or on account of 
benefits, which he has already bestowed upon us. 

4. We are obliged to make acts of love of God, just 
as we are obliged to make acts of faith and hope: 1) 
when we come to the use of reason; 2) when we are 
in danger of committing a great sin; 3) when we are 
about to receive a holy sacrament; 4) when we come 
into danger of death; 5) frequently in life, every day, 
yes, frequently in the day. It is easy to say : "Oh, my 
God, I love thee above all ;" "Jesus, let me love thee ;" 
"Jesus, I want to love thee." 

5. Our faith may increase, may, also, become less, 
or may be lost entirely. Our hope may become firmer, 



280 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

may, also, become less, or may be lost entirely. Like- 
wise our love for God may become stronger, or, also, 
weaker, or may be lost entirely, a) How can we in- 
crease it ? i ) Just as faith and hope, by prayers of all 
kinds. "Ask and you shall receive/' said our blessed 
Lord; 2) by the frequent, devout, worthy, reception of 
the holy sacraments of penance and the Eucharist; 3) 
by the practice of good, religious and charitable works 
of all kinds, b) How can we diminish it? 1) By neg- 
lect of prayers, of the reception of the sacraments and 
by not doing any good works of religion and charity ; 
2) by venial sin; 3) mortal sin extinguishes it en- 
tirely and it can be regained only by perfect contrition, 
confession and absolution and penance. Hence, avoid 
mortal sin, for it cuts you off from the grace and 
friendship and love of God, which you need for eter- 
nal salvation. 

Division 2. Love of our Neighbor. 

1. True christian love for our fellowman is of 
equal importance with the love of God. All men with- 
out any distinction of nationality, language, race, or 
color are God's own creatures, created according to 
God's own image and likeness, and possess an immor- 
tal soul of equal value to that of any one and are, con- 
sequently, of equal importance before God; and any 
one, who considers one race of less importance in this 
sense, than any other, has neither the love of God, nor 
the love for his fellowman in his heart and is, conse- 
quently, devoid of that absolutely necessary virtue for 
attaining heaven. 

2. This does not mean, however, that all are to be 
loved in the same degree. 1) The love of parents, 
husbands and wives, children, brothers and sisters, 



CHRISTIAN CHARITY. DIAMOND THREE 281 

comes first; 2) next in order come near relatives; 3) 
widows, orphans, destitute, poor, sick, suffering and 
sorrowing, and who are despised on account of their 
race, or color; 4) our spiritual superiors, as, pastors 
and teachers. 

3. How are we to increase this love for our fellow- 
man? 1) By not doing him any injury a) in his soul, 
by causing him to sin ; b) by not injuring him in his 
body; c) by not injuring him in his feelings; d) by 
not injuring him in his good name, or in not doing 
any thing to him, what we do not want any one to do 
to ourselves. 2) By wishing him everything good, that 
he can reasonably desire. 3) By being patient with his 
infirmities and faults. 4) By not being jealous of his 
success or good qualities. 5) By helping him to keep 
out of sin and to get out of it, when he has unfortu- 
nately fallen into it. 6) By seeking to bring him into 
the holy Catholic Church, the true Church of Christ, 
and thus by helping him to obtain eternal salvation, for 
which God has created him and redeemed him. 7) By 
praying for him. It is easy to be guided right in our 
love for our fellowman. Place yourself in his position 
and do to others, as you wish them to do to you, if you 
were in his place. 

Division 3. Love of Ourselves. 

1. Though christian charity, does not end there, it 
begins at home, that is, with truly loving one's self in a 
christian manner. We not only may, but should love 
ourselves. This is 1 ) natural ; God has implanted love 
of self into human nature; 2) it is, also, christian; for 
Christ commands us to love God and our neighbor, as 
ourselves. Every one is his own nearest neighbor. 

2. How are we to love ourselves? Not with a 



282 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

false, selfish, unchristian love ; but in such a way, that 
we first of all are busy and active for the eternal salva- 
tion of our immortal soul, for it is more precious, than 
all the goods of this world, because they will all pass 
away and stay on this side of the grave, but the soul 
will live forever. "What does it prophet a man, if he 
gained the whole world, but lose his soul?" Says 
Jesus. (Mt. 16, 26.) Hence, the care of our soul 
must be first, last, and all the time our occupation, and 
that is true self-love. 

3. To love one's self in a christian manner means, 
also, to properly care for all those temporal things, 
which are necessary and useful for a decent living and 
for religious, charitable and civil works according to 
the teachings of the Catholic Church, which are in full 
accord with the laws of God and the teachings of the 
Gospel and always with this end in view, to serve, 
praise and glorify God, to exercise love toward our 
f ellowman, as has been explained, and to save our im- 
mortal souls. Consequently, if on account of the care 
of these temporal goods, we forget and neglect our 
duties toward God and our f ellowman and the working 
out of our eternal salvation, then they become inordi- 
nate, unchristian and often sinful. 

4. How do we exercise this love towards our- 
selves ? 1 ) By striving to avoid all, especially, grievous 
sin, for "he, who loves sin hates his own soul;" (Ps. 
10, 5) ; 2) by immediately making an act of contrition, 
if we have, unfortunately, fallen into sin, and the firm 
resolution of confessing it as soon, as we can, and of 
sinning no more ; 3) by seeking to enrich our soul with 
the grace of God through prayer, reception of the holy 
sacraments, attendance at Mass and the performance 
of all kinds of good works. Do you believe all this 



LOVE OF ONE'S SELF 



283 



pleasing doctrine concerning the love of God, of your 
fellowman and of yourself? If so, then you are in so 
far a Catholic, and, consequently, you ought to be a good 
Catholic. There is no difficulty in observing these great 
laws of the love of God, of our neighbor and ourselves, 
if we observe the ten commandments, as God published 
them to Moses, and as the Catholic Church teaches 
them, as will be perceived in the next chapter. 
CHAPTER II. 

Ten Commandments of God. 

All four tens of the t card deck are representations 
of the ten commandments of God. 

The ten of hearts is a representation of God's love, 
manifested in the ten commandments toward man. 

The ten of diamonds is a representation of the tem- 
poral and eternal reward for the observance of the ten 
commandments. 




284 



CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 






* 
01 




The ten of spades is a representation of the bodily 
and spiritual deaths, incurred for the transgressions 
of the ten commandments. 

The ten of clubs is a representation of the sufferings 
to be endured for the violation of the ten. command- 
ments. 

There are two colors in these four suits of cards. 
They represent the two things, that every command- 
ment does: i) commands one thing and 2) forbids 
another. Every thing is of equal importance for every 
one for eternal salvation. Some falsely imagine, that 
they will be saved, because they observe only one part 
of the commandments, that is, that part, which forbids 
things, and even that part they observe only in avoid- 
ing the grosser forms of transgressions. But that is a 
serious mistake. It is plainly against the teachings of 
the Bible. It is a sad delusion, by which the devil ob- 



TEN COMMANDMENTS 285 

tains many souls for hell. For eternal salvation we 
must i) do the good, that is commanded, and 2), we 
must avoid the evil, that is prohibited. A man's think- 
ing and opinionating to the contrary will not save him. 
God has left no loop-hole for thinking out his own 
moral and religious law. He himself has commanded 
it and instituted his Church to teach it. 

CHAPTER III. 



Ten Commandments. 

1. In the true love of God and of our fellowman 
and of ourselves is the fulfillment of the whole law. 
True love will not remain long locked up in the heart. 
It will show itself externally. The true love of God, of 
our fellowman and of ourselves manifests itself by 
keeping the ten commandments. The Bible says : 
"That is true love, that we keep the commandments." 
(I- J°- 5> 3-) Consequently, the practicing of the true 
love of God and of our fellowman and of ourselves 
and the keeping of the ten commandments is one and 
the same thing. Now, without the love of God and of 
our fellowman and of ourselves we cannot be saved, 
therefore, we cannot be saved without keeping the ten 
commandments. 

2. When God created man, he gave him the voice 
■of conscience, which is the natural law, placed in the 

heart of every man. It tells him of one thing: it is 
good, do it ; of another : it is bad, avoid it. Some still 
claim, that that is their only law. But, oh ! How low 
did and does man sink with it as the only guide ! (Rom. 
1, 18.) Think of any thing and every thing wrong, 
degrading, selfish, criminal, and man has committed it 
all under pretense of being allowed it by his false con- 



286 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

science. That men might have no excuse, God gave 
them, as special guides in the exercise of his love and 
of the true charity toward our fellowman and our- 
selves, his ten holy commandments. They are, conse- 
quently, no burden, but a great benefit to us and a 
special manifestation of God's love and goodness to- 
ward us. 

3. God published his ten holy commandments in 
the Old Testament. (P. 55.) Jesus reinforced them 
all in and for the New Law. A man asked him: 
"What must I do, to obtain eternal life?" Jesus said: 
"Keep the commandments." (Mt. 19, 16.) Again he 
said : "I have not come to annul the law, but to fulfill 
it". Jesus only abrogated the ceremonial and judicial 
ordinances of the Old Law, but not the moral law, not 
the ten commandments proper. 

4. Consequently, each and every man must keep 
each and every one of the ten commandments under 
pain of eternal damnation. Godless heretics have 
falsely claimed, that man need only have faith for sal- 
vation, but that he does not need to keep the ten com- 
mandments. Where would the world come to without 
the observation of the ten commandments ? If you rub 
out one spot on the ten-spot card, you have no more the 
ten-spot, but only the nine and the nine will not do the 
work of the ten-spot. This holds true for and through 
all of the cards. Just so we cannot violate one or more 
of the commandments and still have sufficient left for 
salvation. Therefore, 

5. Every one must keep all the ten commandments, 
not only some. We need not first take this obligation 
of keeping the ten commandments upon ourselves by 
"taking religion" or by joining the Catholic Church. 
We have that obligation from the very fact, that we 



TEN COMMANDMENTS 287 

are God's own reasoning creatures. Jesus said to his 
apostles : "Teach every man all, what I have com- 
manded you/' (Mt. 28, 20.) He did teach : "If thou 
wilt have eternal life, keep the commandment s." (Mt. 
19, 17.) He made no exception for any one nor of 
anything. To keep some and not others will not save 
man. "Who keeps the law, but offends in one point, is 
become guilty of all." (Jas. 2, 10.) 

6. Some say, we cannot keep all of the ten com- 
mandments. Yes, we can ; not out of our own powers, 
but with the help of, God's grace. This help, this 
grace, God is willing at all times to give us for the 
asking. "Ask and you shall receive." We obtain it 
by prayers of all kinds, by the worthy reception of the 
sacraments, by the devout assistance at the holy Mass 
and by all good works. God says: "The law, which 
I give thee, is not above thee." (V. Mos. 30, 11.) The 
Bible says : "That is the love of God, that we keep his 
commandments, and his command is not difficult." 
(I- J°- 5 > 3-) To claim, that we cannot keep all of the 
commandments is blasphemy ; for it would accuse God 
of punishing. us for something, that we cannot do. 
Numberless souls from Adam and Eve to the present 
day have proven, that with the help of God we can 
keep all of the ten commandments of God. They were 
human beings with the same temptations, the same sin- 
ful inclinations like ourselves. If they could keep 
them with the help of God, why not we? The least, 
that we can do, that they did do, that God expects us 
to do, is to rise, repent, confess and do penance for our 
sins, after we have had the misfortune to fall into sin, 
be it ever so often and then earnestly try again ; for it 
is human to fall into sin ; Christlike to rise from sin ; 
but devilish to remain in sin. That will teach us humil- 



288 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

ity and prudence, and care, which are all good for salva- 
tion; for this life is a warfare with sin. For each 
struggle God will reward us. 

CHAPTER IV. 



Division 1. 

First Commandment : "I am the Lord, thy God ; 
thou shalt not have strange gods before meC" 

I. What does the first commandment command? 

It commands the worship of the one, true, living and 
only God. How? Man consists of a body and soul, 
of which the two colors in the card-deck remind us. 
God has not made the soul only to serve him and the 
body to serve itself or some other creature; but the 
whole man must serve God. We do this by i ) internal 
and 2) external acts of divine worship. 

A) Internally by acts of faith, hope, love and reli- 
gion, of which the four suits in the card-deck re- 
mind us. In other words, they mean acts of 1) the in- 
tellect, 2) of the reason, 3) of the memory, 4) of the 
free-will; for 

1. By the intellect we must learn to know God. 
This is necessary for eternal salvation. We have no 
choice to learn to know him or not ; for, unless we 
know him, we cannot serve him. 

2. After we know God, and the better we know 
him, the more reason will tell us, that we must serve 
him and him alone. For reason tells us, that we are 
God's own property ; that we are totally dependent up- 
on him for every moment of our existence and for our 
happiness in this life and in the next life ; that every- 
thing good, that we are, have and do, is from God ; that, 



FIRST COMMANDMENT. TEN-SPOT CARDS 289 

consequently, we owe him everything and everything we 
must ask from him, that we need, to obtain the end and 
object of our existence; and that, consequently, we 
must thank him for everything good, that we are, have 
and do and will obtain through the faithful service of 
him. 

3. The memory will aid us in recalling all these our 
duties toward God at stated times and especially this 
great truth, that God is the infinitely perfect Spirit and 
that, consequently, we must adore him first of all and 
truly, though not alone so, in spirit and in truth by the 
true faith, true hope, true love and the true religion in 
his only true Church. 

4. By the proper use of free-will, man will readily 
and fully assent to all the truths, which God has re- 
vealed and which he continues to teach us to be be- 
lieved through his holy Catholic Church, and by his 
free-will man can with God's grace decide for the 
good, that all of the commandments command, and 
against the evil, that all of the commandments forbid. 

5. All of these faculties of the soul we employ in 
the internal, spiritual, divine worship by acts of faith, 
acts of hope, acts of charity and by other spiritual acts 
of religion. The internal exercise of these duties to- 
ward God, which the first commandment prescribes, 
will engender true confidence in God for everything, 
that we need for salvation, and a true, child-like fear 
for him and respect for his holy laws and sincere grati- 
tude for all his inestimable benefits. This internal, 
spiritual worship, lays the foundation for the external 
worship. 

B) Externally we honor, adore, worship God by 
corporal, visible actions, for instance, by blessing our- 
selves with the sign of the cross, folding our hands, 



290 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

by praying, kneeling in prayer, going to and from and 
participating in public and domestic worship, and by 
religious ceremonies of all kinds. 

OBJECTION 1. Against this external worship 
in the Catholic Church some avaricious, stingy, in- 
dolent people say: "Why build a church? It costs 
too much. Too much trouble to go to it for divine ser- 
vice. We can pray at home. God can hear us there 
just as well." What does the Bible say? i) This does 
not hold good in relation to the Catholic Church, nor 
to the religion practiced in it; for the demand for 
external worship lies in the arrangement of our holy 
religion published by God in the Old Testament and 
taught by Jesus Christ, the divine Founder of our holy 
Catholic Church, in the New Testament. Almighty 
God ordered the tent in the desert to be erected for 
divine worship, for prayer and for sacrifice. Later, in 
the Promised Land, he ordered Solomon to build the 
temple of Jerusalem for the same purpose. The tent 
and temple were only symbols, prefigures, of the tem- 
ples of God in the New Testament, just as the sacri- 
fices offered in them were only figures of the sacrifice 
of the New Law, the holy Mass, as it is had in the 
Catholic Church only, and as the priests officiating in 
the tents and temple of old were only figures of the 
priests in the New Law. 2) Jesus Christ, the Founder 
of the holy Catholic Church and religion ordered his 
apostles and priests to offer up the selfsame sacrifice 
of the New Law, the holy Mass, as he instituted it at 
his Last Supper. This could not well be done without 
a church building. 3) He ordered his apostles and 
their lawful successors to go into the whole world and 
preach the gospel. This cannot well be done without a 
church building. 4) Jesus encouraged all men to let 



FIRST COMMANDMENT. TEN-SPOT CARDS 291 

their light shine. It should and can be done to some 
extent everywhere, but we do so most effectually by 
showing our true colors in attending public divine 
worship in the church. 5) Hence, Jesus said: "Who 
professes me before men, him will I acknowledge be- 
fore my Father in heaven." (Mt. 10, 32.) That means 
exactly practicing our holy religion, also, externally in 
the church building. 6) Jesus himself paid the temple 
tribute, setting us an example of supporting the church. 
OBJECTION 2. Some say : "There is too much 
external pomp and there are too many ceremonies in 
the Catholic Church ; they are unnatural ; they are not 
founded on the Bible." What does the Bible say? 
Answer : Religious ceremonies in the Catholic Church 
are external signs, which include invisible things. 

1. The internal, spiritual, divine worship by faith, 
hope and charity, as the underlying principle, and the 
external worship, including religious ceremonies, cou- 
pled with them, constitute a divine worship, that cor- 
responds fully to human nature ; for man consists of a 
body and a soul and with both he must serve God. For 
the service of both he will be rewarded in both ; for the 
neglect by both he will be punished in both. The body 
can participate only by external worship. Therefore, 
external worship is also necessary. 

2. The history of the world teaches, that, where 
public divine worship ceased, there ceased also the ob- 
servance of the ten commandments of God, and there 
the civil government itself was overthrown. 

3. 1 ) The Bible clearly teaches that true divine wor- 
ship was performed at no time without showing it 
also externally. Recall to mind the sacrifices of Cain 
and Abel, Noe, Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, of the 
prophets, of kings David and Solomon. 2) God him- 



292 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

self prescribed the religious ceremonies, the priest's 
vestments, candles, incense in the Old Law. The 
divine teacher of our holy Catholic religion himself 
accompanied many of his religious acts with ceremo- 
nies : He blessed fish and bread with the sign of the 
cross; he breathed on and laid hands in benediction on 
the apostles, when he gave them the power of forgiv- 
ing sin ; he prayed on bended knees ; at his last supper 
he raised his eyes to his heavenly Father and blessed 
the bread by making over it the sign of the cross. 
They were all ceremonies. Thus the ceremonies of our 
Catholic divine worship, the sacerdotal vestments, the 
candles, the flowers, incense, etc., are, as it were, Juda- 
ism glorified, elevated and are, consequently, as well 
founded on the Bible, as any and every thing else in 
the Catholic Church. 3) a) "In the name of Jesus 
every knee shall bow" is Saint Paul's instruction. 
(Phil. 2, 10.) b) Solomon stood before the altar of 
God and bent his knees. (II. Chron. 6, 12.) In imi- 
tation of it Catholics make genuflections before the 
most holy Sacrament on the altar, c) The publican 
struck his breast, saying : "Lord have mercy on me, a 
sinner." (Lu. 18, 13.) Catholics do the same thing. 

4. Catholic worship does not consist in these exter- 
nals. They are only the manifestations of the inter- 
nal, spiritual faith, hope and charity, iar true faith, 
true hope, true love, cannot remain long concealed 
within the heart without showing themselves exter- 
nally. 

5. The fruit of a tree does not consist in the bark, 
branches and leaves ; yet, no tree will bear fruit with- 
out bark, without branches and without leaves. The 
bark, branches, leaves are the ceremonies. The fruit 
is the underlying principle of faith, hope and charity, 



FIRST COMMANDMENT. TEN-SPOT CARDS 293 

which are to some extent fed and increased by the 
external worship and ceremonies. Thus both the in- 
ternal, spiritual, and external, corporal, divine worship, 
all the ceremonies in the Catholic Church, are founded 
upon the Bible and are in harmony with sound reason 
and correspond to our human nature and are required 
by the first commandment of God, and, therefore, there 
is nothing foolish, nothing unnatural, nothing mean- 
ingless, nothing unscriptural about them, and this is 
another proof, that the Catholic Church is the only 
true Church of Christ. 

II. What does the first commandment of God pro- 
hibit ? Forbidden by the first commandment of God is 
everything, that is a violation of the internal, spiritual, 
and external, corporal, divine worship, any thing that 
is contrary to christian faith, hope and charity and 
everything, as we have seen, that is commanded by the 
first commandment. 

i. The first obligation of the first commandment 
is a necessary knowledge of God. For, if we do not 
know God, we cannot perform our duties toward him 
by faith, hope, charity and other acts of religion, and, 
consequently, we cannot and do not fulfill his holy will, 
which to do is absolutely necessary for salvation. 

2. Those are guilty of forgetfulness of God, who 
seldom think of him in holy faith, hope of heaven and 
active charity by faith and the performance of religious 
duties. 

3. Light-mindedness, carelessness in obtaining a 
necessary knowledge of God, of his holy religion and 
of the Catholic Church, in prayer and the exercise of 
that religion, is a violation of the first commandment. 

4. Fickle-mindedness in the fulfillment of religious 
duties and of the adherence to the only true Church of 



294 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

Christ, and doubts about the true faith, the true 
Church and the true religion, are sins against the first 
commandment; for God is unchangeable and he de- 
mands steadfastness in his true faith, true hope, true 
charity, Church and religion. He has clearly made 
them all known and, consequently, admits of no incon- 
stancy, no doubt, no opinionating, no choice. 

5. To have no faith or to profess a false faith and 
to be a member of a false church — and all human 
churches are false — or to cease to belong to the true 
Church, and to cease to exercise the true faith in the 
true religion, are all grievous transgressions of the first 
commandment. For, since God has made his holy will 
known, given us the virtue of the true faith in bap- 
tism, or is willing to give it to every one, taught his 
doctrine and instituted his holy Church to continue to 
teach it and to practice his holy will in, he cannot be 
indifferent, whether man accepts his divine revelations, 
or not, belongs to his true Church, or not, and exer- 
cises his true religion, or not. Herein lies the reason, 
why it is wrong, sinful and contrary to the first com- 
mandment of God, to belong to certain secret societies, 
and why the Catholic Church prohibits them, because, 
if they have their own religious ritual and their oWn 
lodge chaplain and open and close with prayers or with 
religious hymns, they thereby become religious sects, 
religions, established, not by God, but by men. 

6. It is contrary to the first commandment to go to 
false churches and to participate in their divine wor- 
ship. 

7. To mock the true religion, or its ceremonies, or 
its ministers, or to ridicule them, or to laugh at them, 
are all sins against the first commandment. "Revenge 
awaits them", says the Bible. (Sir. 27, 31.) 



FIRST COMMANDMENT. TEN-SPOT CARDS 295 

8. All sins against hope, as despondency, presump- 
tion, distrust in God, dissatisfaction with God on ac- 
count of the weather, or health, or station, or condition 
in life, are all sins against the first commandment. 

9. All sins against charity, as forgetf ulness of God's 
goodness, gratitude in word and deed for his inestim- 
able and countless benefits are, also, sins against the 
first commandment. , 

10. Every culpable neglect of attendance at public 
divine worship on Sundays and holidays, or disrespect- 
ful attendance at it, or disturbing others in prayer, are 
sins against the first commandment. 

11. Consulting spiritualists and fortune-tellers are 
forbidden by the first commandment. The profession- 
als among them are in league with the devil, whether 
they themselves know it, or not, and nothing good can 
come from them. No one knows the future, but God 
and as far, as we need to know it for our good in this 
and in the next life, he has and does make it known to 
us.. The fact, that some things foretold come true, is 
no argument in their favor. For it would be strange, 
if of the many silly things foretold, some did not hap- 
pen. On the other hand it may be an argument for 
this, that from that very fact, that you submit to a 
fortune-teller, you place yourself in the power of the 
devil so far, that he may cause that nonsense foretold 
to come true. It is always sinful, offensive to God, 
and, consequently, you are always the loser. 

12. Trusting to dreams and charms of any kind is 
against the first commandment. They have absolutely 
no power to protect any one from any injury. There 
is absolutely no foundation for any of such sinful for- 
bidden things, in reason or in the Bible. 



296 CARDS, BIBLtf, CHURCH, RELIGION 

Second Commandment: "Thou shalt not take the 
name of the Lord, thy God, in vain." 

I. What is commanded by the second command- 
ment? That we honor God's holy name. It is not 
sufficient to not take it in vain, but we are also obliged 
to pronounce it with respect, to call upon God with love 
and devotion and confidence in prayer, to acknowledge 
our belief in him, when necessity calls for such profes- 
sion of our holy faith, and to seek to, also, have others 
honor and venerate it; for instance, the object of this 
book is, that others may glorify God's holy name. 
That is, what Jesus meant, when he taught us to pray : 
"Hallowed be thy name." 

II. Forbidden by the second, commandment is : 

1. To carelessly, profanely, without any reason, 
without any devotion, use God's name in conversation ; 

2. Still worse is it to use God's holy name, especi- 
ally, that of Jesus Christ, in anger, by cursing and by 
damning one's self, or other persons, or animals, or 
things, whether it is done with deliberation, or thought- 
lessly, or habitually ; for each one is responsible for his 
own bad habits. It is such a nasty, degrading sin. It 
brands a man as a tough and ruffian and as some one, 
who is not wanted in any decent company. Profanity 
is never the sign of a gentleman. It can do no one any 
good, but only injury and the greatest injury to the 
curser himself, for unrepented and unconf essed, he has 
nothing but punishment to expect for it in this life and 
in the next. 

3. Perjury, or taking a false oath, or inducing oth- 
ers to do so, when duly called upon before an author- 
ized officer of either the civil or ecclesiastical law. We 
are allowed to call God to witness, that means to swear, 



SECOND COMMANDMENT. TEN-SPOT CARDS 297 

to ,take an oath, to make an oath, when God's honor, 
our own, or our neighbor's good, or honor, or defense, 
demands it, and then no falsehood may be told, regard- 
less of consequences. The social advantages of the 
observation of this commandment are many. Without 
the sacredness and binding force of the oath our gov- 
ernment would become dissolved. The Catholic 
Church teaches the observance of this commandment 
and, consequently, she inculcates the stability of our 
government in spite of the many misrepresentations to 
the contrary. None of those little, insignificant, secret 
societies, which men 1 prefer to the holy Catholic 
Church, .can make any such showing. She is a good 
institution to study up and join and be faithful to. 

Division 2. 

Third Commandment: "Remember, thou keep 
holy the Sabbath Day." The first commandment 
requires of us to give to God the worship of our 
thoughts and hearts by faith, hope and love. The sec- 
ond commandment requires of us to give him the wor- 
ship of our language, by reverence for his holy name. 
The third commandment requires of us to give him the 
worship of our actions by dedicating to him a part of 
our time, thus serving him with both body and soul. 
These are the three commandments written on the first 
table of the law, as given to Moses. 

I. What is commanded by the third command- 
ment? To give to God the first day of the week, the 
Sunday, for special, spiritual, divine, public worship. 
The Jews gave to God the seventh, the last day of the 
week. 

i. In the New Law the Catholic Church has dedi- 
cated to God the first day of the week, not the last, 



298 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

teaching thereby to all the world, that God's cause -and 
the care of our eternal salvation come first, not last. 
Sunday is kept holy, because 

i) it is called the Lord's Day in the Bible (Apoc. 
i, 10.) ; 

2) because it commemorates the first great crea- 
tion day, when God began to create ; 

3) because Jesus was born on Sunday; 

4) because Jesus was circumcised, shed his first 
blood for our redemption, on Sunday ; 

5) because on a Sunday Jesus was baptized and 
instituted the holy sacrament of baptism, without 
which there is no salvation ; 

6) because Jesus held his triumphal entrance into 
Jerusalem on Sunday; 

7) because Jesus arose from the dead on Sunday ; 

8) . because the apostles on Sunday received the 
power to forgive sin; 

9) because on Sunday Jesus instituted the holy 
sacrament of penance, next of importance for salva- 
tion to baptism, if by sin we have unfortunately lost 
the grace of baptism. 

10) because on Sunday the Holy Ghost came down 
upon the apostles. 

2. The Bible does not explicitly teach the Sunday 
to be kept holy. It does so only indirectly by showing, 
that Christ established the Catholic Church and gave 
to her full power, saying: "All power is given to me 
in heaven and on earth ; as the Father sent me, thus I 
send you," fitted out with all that power. Hence, it 
appears, that the Bible is not the only explicit, full 
rule of faith, but that Tradition is of importance, too ; 
yet, Tradition is all founded on the Bible. God taught 
it a duty in the Old Testament to give to him the "first- 



THIRD COMMANDMENT. TEN-SPOT CARDS 299 

lings" of the family, flock, fruit and field. The Catho- 
lic Church, as God's own enlightened institution, gives 
to God, also, the "firstling" of the days of the week. 

3. The Jews were like Cain, who gave to God the 
last, the poorest, that, what was left: the Catholics are 
like Abel, who gave to God the best, the first. 

II. What is forbidden by the third commandment ? 

1. Everything, that interferes with the special ser- 
vice of God and the sacredness of his day. Thus ser- 
vile work is prohibited, excepting that, which is abso- 
lutely necessary, for instance, the feeding of animals, 
preparing meals, and what labor is absolutely neces- 
sary in going to Church. 

2. It is a sad mistake to imagine, that Sunday is 
kept holy by merely not working, but by doing nothing 
in the way of attendance at public divine worship, 
nothing in the way of reading good books, or visiting 
the sick, etc. Not to do that, what is forbidden, is only 
one part of the third commandment ; we must also do 
that, which is commanded, give special service to God, 
and, according to God's ordinances and the precepts of 
the Catholic Church, that special service is to be public 
service. 

3. After we have done our full duty by more 
prayer on Sunday, than on other days, and by attend- 
ing public divine worship in church, it is not a violation 
of this commandment to enjoy quiet, social, games for 
recreation. The public advantages of this third com- 
mandment of God are great. It gives needed rest to 
man and beast. It weekly reminds man, that he is in 
the world, not for the world, but to travel towards 
eternity, and that, in order to obtain a happy eternity, 
he must serve God faithfully, so, as God wills it, and 
as his true Church teaches. 



300 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

Fourth Commandment: "Honor thy father and thy 

mother." 

i. In the first three commandments God takes care 
of his own rights and honor by demanding of us the 
homage of our thoughts, words, and actions. In the 
other seven commandments, which were written on the 
second slate of stone, God lays down our duties to- 
ward our neighbor and ourselves. This shows God's 
infinite love for man: He made only three laws for 
his own protection; seven for man's. The first of 
those seven commandments is for the protection of 
those, who are nearest and dearest to one another. It is 
the only commandment, to which God has explicitly 
promised reward for its observation. 

2. The words "father and mother" are here taken 
in such a wide sense, that they include and prescribe 
toward one another the duties of each and every mem- 
ber i) of the family, 2) of the Church, 3) of the gov- 
ernment, 4) duties of all superiors and subjects, both 
temporal and spiritual, ecclesiastical and civil, toward 
one another. 

I. What is commanded by the fourth command- 
ment ? 

For the family is commanded : 

1. For husband and wife, true christian charity 
and respect and ceaseless striving to sanctify each 
other by fidelity in faith, hope and love and by every- 
thing, that they imply; that 1) "the husband be the 
head of the wife, as Christ is the head of his Church," 
as the Bible says ; that he set a good example to her in 
the exercise of virtues and all duties of our holy reli- 
gion; 2) that the wife treat her husband with due 
respect and obey him in every thing, that is not con- 



FOURTH COMMANDMENT. TEN-SPOT CARDS 301 

trary to the law of God, of the Church and of her con- 
science, that she be diligent, saving, house-loving and 
virtuous; 3) that both should bear children for heaven 
and for God. 

2. The parents are bound to be solicitous 1) for the 
corporal welfare of their children, even before they 
are born. Hence, they should above all avoid intoxi- 
cating drink. Intoxication brings more cripples, im- 
beciles, idiots, epileptics, into the world, than any one 
other cause. Under intoxication healthy animals can- 
not even be produced., If the male animal at the time 
of coition is put under the influence of liquor, he will 
produce nothing but cripples. Worse is it, if both, 
male and female, are under the baneful influence of 
intoxicating liquor at the time of coition. It is not 
otherwise with human beings. Peevishness, anger, im- 
patience, indolence, stealing, overindulgence in lust, 
proud thoughts, will have their evil influences upon the 
offspring. 2) Parents should provide for their chil- 
dren healthful clothing and food, not sweets, not meats, 
not teas and coffees, not liquor, but plenty of fresh air 
day and night, and early begin to teach them honest 
occupations, so that they may learn, how to work hon- 
estly and make a decent living, and to let them get suf- 
ficient schooling for all decent and necessary and use- 
ful purposes in life. 3) The care for the salvation of 
the immortal souls of their children is even of much 
greater importance for the parents to consider. Here, 
too, they must begin long before the children are born. 
They must begin with themselves by leading decent, 
virtuous, lives. As soon, as possible even on the same 
day the new-born child should be brought to church 
for baptism, for the child's life hangs on a thread, and, 
if it died without baptism, it could not enter heaven. 



302 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

Hence, it is a serious mistake to postpone baptism until 
the next Sunday. 4) In the tenderest years they 
should teach the child prayer and some things about 
God and, when the child is of school age, send it to a 
Catholic School and, as the child grows up, they 
should redouble their watchfulness and set it a good 
example in everything in the punctual exercise of daily 
prayers, of divine worship on Sundays and holy days, 
of sobriety, and keep it out of bad company. They 
ought to always have personal knowledge of the char- 
acter of those, with whom the child associates. 5) They 
should never forget, that God will one day demand the 
souls of their children from their hands. That is the 
reason, why the Bible says : They shall raise their 
children in the fear and love of God, that they may 
become useful, honest, law-abiding, citizens and good 
exemplary Catholics and obtain heaven after this life. 
6) Parents have no right to keep their children from 
Catholic public divine worship on Sundays and holy 
days, nor from becoming Catholic, if they already are 
not Catholic, for in that case, they must obey God more 
than man. 

3. Some sure ways of spoiling the children: 

1) Pamper them for everything and for nothing; 

2) Laugh at their faults and lies and badness and 
rudeness, even at those, which you ought to punish; 

3) Let them run on the street for their play- 
ground ; 

4) Let them read any old trash and silly, lovesick, 
book and story; 

5) Let them play truant at school; 

6) Teach them to lie; 

7) Take part with them against authorities, for in- 
stance, against their teachers and against their pastor ; 



FOURTH COMMANDMENT. TEN-SPOT CARDS 303 

8) Let them have all •the spending money, they 
want, and do not look, to see, what they are doing with 

it; 

9) Let them run out at night, with whom and 
where they will and can have, what they want ; 

10) Do not bother about the company, which they 
keep; 

11) Let them believe, that external polish will do 
instead of virtue ; 

j 2) Do not see, whether they attend school, or 
church, or not ; 

13) Let the boy have his girl and the girl her fel- 
low, while still in their teens; 

14) Let them disobey you and their teachers and 
pastor without being punished for it ; 

15) Be sure to believe your children are better, 
than others, and cannot and will not go wrong ; 

16) Set them a bad example in lustfulness, dis- 
honesty, drunkenness, profanity, neglect of religious 
duties, and they will be sure to follow you. You will 
never miss spoiling your children and making them un- 
happy by any, or all, of these methods of raising them. 

4. Parents are nearest and dearest by nature to the 
children. They take in a large sense God's place on 
earth for the children. Children, consequently, by 
nature and by the fourth commandment owe their 
parents: 

1 ) Respect and honor in word and deed for all the 
days of their lives; they must speak respectfully to 
them and of them, never murmur against their com- 
mands, or criticize their actions and they must have 
patience with their infirmities in sickness and in old 
age ; they should never be ashamed of them, but do like 
the Egyptian Joseph, who in all his glory was not 



304 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

ashamed of his poor old father Jacob, and like Solo- 
mon, the wisest and richest of all kings that ever lived, 
always publicly honored his mother, and like Jesus the 
King of heaven and earth always paid due respect and 
honor to his Mother. 

2) Children owe love to their parents on account 
of the many benefits, which they have received from 
them, for they are next. to God their greatest benefac- 
tors and owe them everything, they have and are. 
How many sorrows, pains and headaches and heart- 
aches have they, especially the mother, endured for 
their children ! Children should show this love by acts 
of kindness and by trying to make life pleasant for 
them, especially in their old age. Children should 
daily pray for their parents. 

3) Children owe obedience to their parents in ev- 
ery thing that is not contrary to the law of God. They 
should obey them gladly and promptly. Among the 
softest and sweetest memories, that cling to us all the 
days of our lives, are those of father and mother, 
especially of mother. At that sweet word the slum- 
bering memories of other days awaken, and our heart 
becomes that of a child again, and oh! what sorrow 
comes back to the heart of the child, who has been dis- 
respectful, unloving, disobedient to father and mother. 
Children, surround your fathers and mothers with 
true affections, love, obedience and respect, and God's 
and their blessings will rest abundantly upon you. 
Woe ! to those children, who violate in important 
things the respect, love and obedience, they owe their 
parents and grieve their loving hearts. 

5. The duty of kindness, love, mutual assistance of 
brothers and sisters towards each other, is, also, com- 
manded by the fourth commandment. 



FOURTH COMMANDMENT. TEN-SPOT CARDS 305 

6. Masters and mistresses should see, that their 
household servants be honest, virtuous, keep out of bad 
company and attend to their religious duties. 

7. Servants, wage-earners of all kinds are obliged 
to be faithful, respectful, honest and obedient to their 
masters. 

8. Kindness, servieeableness, assistance in need, ex- 
tending greetings to acquaintances, accustomed civil 
greetings, which neighbors usually give to each other, 
fidelity in friendship, hospitality to strangers and ac- 
quaintances, are all commanded by the fourth com- 
mandment. 

9. As Catholics, we have duties not only toward 
our parents according to the flesh, but, also, toward our 
spiritual father and spiritual mother. This duty is 
incumbent upon all without exception, in young and 
old and all through life. Our spiritual mother is our 
holy Catholic Church, and our spiritual father is our 
pastor. To both we owe respect, love and obedience, 
because they administer to us spiritual food, the Word 
of God, the Mass and the sacraments, and take for us 
spiritually God's place on earth. That is the reason, 
why the Catholic priest is called "father". Hence, we 
should seek to lighten his burdens by the glad hand of 
assistance, encouragement and support. 

10. Young people should, in their youth, seek to 
become virtuous, honest, diligent, trustworthy, keep 
out of bad company, try to become true ladies and 
gentlemen, and set a good example toward one another, 
and be respectful to old age. This is all included in 
the fourth commandment. 

11. All public civil officers from the President 
down by impartiality and strict justice, especially in 
judges, members of legislatures and of congress, are 



306 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

obliged by this fourth commandment of God to be 
strictly honest, faithful in the performance of all their 
duties, agreeable, or disagreeable; and they should 
remember, that they are obliged to restitution, if they 
do not do their duty and draw their pay nevertheless, 
and all the more so, if they are clearly dishonest, sell 
their vote of office, or in any way permit themselves to 
be bribed, for they must return the bribe, before they 
can enter heaven ; they should remember, that they are 
not the bosses of the people, but only their servants; 
and that they are not entitled to pay, if they do not do 
their duty entrusted to them. 

12. In like manner all subjects of the government, 
who seek, expect and enjoy its protection, advantages 
and blessings, are obliged in consequence by virtue of 
this fourth commandment of God to obey all just laws 
and to pay all just taxes and to cast an honest, con- 
scientious ballot. 

13. All duties of the particular state of life with- 
out any exception are included in the fourth com- 
mandment, 

II. The contrary of all those duties enumerated 
heretofore is forbidden by the fourth commandment. 
All those duties the Catholic Church seeks to inculcate 
and make of obligation in conscience to each and every 
one of her members and she calls them to account for 
their violation and demands repentance, confession 
and satisfaction for them. She positively insists upon 
due respect for authority. Thus it becomes clear, what 
a great power for good and honesty and stability for 
human society and for our civil government, the Cath- 
olic Church is. She is worth while to study up thor- 
oughly, then join and be a faithful member of her even 
for this life and especially for the next. 



FIFTH COMMANDMENT. TEN-SPOT CARDS 307 

Fifth Commandment: "Thou shalt not kill." 

1. What does it command? 

i. Towards our fellowman: i) Peace and har- 
mony and kindness in everything, in which they can be 
had without sinning; 2) mildness and a forgiving spir- 
it toward those, who have offended us, as Jesus said : 
"Learn of me, for I am meek and humble of heart;" 
(Mt. 11, 29.) 3) reconciliation with our enemies, es- 
pecially, if the one offending is an inferior. Jesus 
taught us this duty, when he taught us, how to pray: 
"Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them who 
trespass against us.;" 4) good example to everybody 
and encouragement to follow it; 5) correction of oth- 
ers of their fault in all kindness and with prudence; 
6) assist our fellowman, when in need; 7) to make 
restitution for all injuries in body, soul and good name, 
in reputation and character. 

2. Towards ourselves: 1) we are obliged by the 
fifth commandment to take good care of our health 

' from our youth up. It is pretty late to take care of 
our health, after it is lost. Presupposing, that we are 
healthy offsprings, and that our parents and our teach- 
ers inculcate this duty, and, if we ourselves would be 
continually zealous in the performance of this impor- 
tant duty, there is no reason, why we should not be- 
come 80 years of age, before we begin to get old, not 
merely live 80 years ; 2) just as we are strictly obliged 
to not get careless in taking care of the health of our 
body, just so are we obliged to look after the health of 
our mind and soul and after eternal salvation. Just as 
we should avoid bad air for the body to breathe, just 
so must we avoid bad company for the soul. As we 
avoid bad food and poison for our body, just so ought 
we avoid bad language and bad books for our minds. 



308 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

3. This commandment, also, includes the obligation 
of kind treatment toward animals. God has created 
them for man's use and benefits, consequently, not to 
be tormented and abused, nor sinned with. A man, 
who is cruel toward animals, will, also, be cruel to- 
wards other men, if he dare. As it does not pay to run 
down ourselves and injure our health and strength, 
neither by overwork nor by laziness nor by the use of 
intoxicating liquor nor by other dissipations, just so, 
as a matter of business prudence, it does not pay to 
run down a horse, a mule or a cow. If it pays at all to 
keep them, it pays best to keep them well. It is the 
cheapest. A man, who works a poor horse or mule, or 
milks a poor cow, shows openly, that he is a cruel, 
hard-hearted man and, also, a man of poor business 
judgment and, consequently, a man to be avoided, and 
he should be called to account for his cruelty. Many 
a man has ended on the gallows, who began his cruel- 
ties by tormenting flies, then cats and dogs, then cows, 
horses and mules, then other men by fights ; then came 
murder. 

II. What is forbidden by the fifth commandment? 

1. Murder, directly or indirectly, by taking the life 
of the old, sick, incurables, or the unborn, practicing 
race suicide, which for the most part is murder in its 
worst form, because it is not only bodily, but also spir- 
itual murder by depriving the offspring of baptism, 
without which it cannot enter heaven ; it is murder, no 
matter, at what time, after conception preventing 
means are applied ; nor does it make any difference, in 
what manner they are applied. Countless millions of 
people will be forever damned, because they practiced 
these abominations and sent numberless souls into eter- 
nity without even a chance of baptism. If, after coi- 



FIFTH COMMANDMENT. TEN-SPOT CARDS 309 

tion, conception has taken place, which it usually does 
immediately, if it does at all, then the prevention of its 
further development is heinous murder, pure and sim- 
ple; if conception has not taken place and you, never- 
theless, apply the abominable preventive means, you 
commit murder in intent. Many married people seek 
to keep young by preventing to bear children; but 
nothing ages more, than these nasty, degrading prac- 
tices. Guilty of murder at child-birth become many 
physicians, who needlessly kill the child. The best 
physicians state positively, that there is no need of 
choosing between the 'death of the child and the death 
of the mother. There are other operations safer for 
both. 

Killing in self-defense is not murder, because each 
one is obliged to protect his own life first, which God 
gave him ; but the intention must not be to kill the un- 
just aggressor, but to make him harmless, and, if the 
killing follows, it is accidental and not intended. 

2. All injury to others and to ourselves in body and 
health and limb. 

3. All anger, injurious words, calling a bad name, 
wishing death and injury to ourselves and to others 
for the sake of revenge and jealousy. 

4. Suicide. There is, also, a slow suicide by self- 
abuse and so-called secret sins. They ruin thousands. 
They weaken the will-power, darken the intellect and 
sap man's very life, just like a tree, that is kept bleed- 
ing all the time. Continuous worry shortens life. The 
use and especially the abuse of intoxicating liquor de- 
stroys the whole man, body, mind, and will, and short- 
ens life and is, consequently, a kind of suicide. The 
presidents of medical departments of twenty-five of 
the largest universities of the world have subscribed 



310 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

to this, that no man can be considered any longer a 
perfectly sober man, who drinks more than four 
glasses of beer or their equivalent of alcohol within 
twenty-four hours. It means, that with four glasses 
of beer he has crossed the sober line and begins to be 
on the intoxicating line. In the fifty largest universi- 
ties of the world during the past twenty-five years not 
a single student, who used liquor, graduated at the head 
of his class. Liquor users are unfit for prolonged, 
clear mental labor. No man has ever held the cham- 
pionship in athletics, who was a drinking man. No 
drinking man can endure hardships side by side with 
a sober man. Drink is never alone : Self-abuse and 
women always go with it. These three shorten many 
a man's life. 

5. The fifth commandment does not only prohibit 
all injuries to our own and our fellowman's body, but, 
also, to their souls 1 ) by seduction. This may be done 
by threats or by promises of reward. 2) It may be done 
by either keeping others from doing good, by causing 
them to act against faith, hope, charity, religion and 
religious persons, or to fight, or to be disobedient and 
disrespectful to lawful authority, civil or ecclesiastical, 
or to induce them to immorality. 

6. The life and health of the body is not the only 
life and health, of which we must take good care. We 
wiust also, take care of the life and health of the soul. 
The food of the soul is the grace of God obtained by 
prayers, religious exercises, attendance at public divine 
worship, and by the reception of the sacraments, listen- 
ing to the sermon and reading good books. Injurious 
to the health of the soul are venial sins of all kinds and 
mortal sins strike a mortal blow at its very life. Con- 
sequently, they should be avoided and if, unfortunate- 



FIFTH COMMANDMENT. TEN-SPOT CARDS 311 

ly, afflicted with them we should, as quickly seek re- 
lief, as we do from afflictions of the body, that is, 
repent, confess and amend. The means for all this are 
held out better nowhere, than in the Catholic Church. 

Sixth Commandment : "Thou shalt not commit 
adultery." 

After, by the foregoing commandment, God has pro- 
vided for the security' of life, limb and health of both 
body and soul, there must be inviolability of the mar- 
riage bond and purity of morals in general, to secure 
the stability and welfare, happiness and prosperity of 
the human race. Hence, 

I. by the sixth commandment is commanded: 

i. Tender modesty and holy purity. Children, 
when obtaining the use of reason, are naturally modest 
and pure. Hence, parents should nourish those vir- 
tues in their children, and all should preserve them. 
There is nothing more beautiful and precious. All the 
world loves modesty and purity, even those, who 
would rob others of them. To preserve them i) it is 
necessary to expel bad thoughts and suggestions quick- 
ly; 2) not to listen to bad, impure talk and to guard 
the eyes and ears. The eyes and ears, are the doors, 
through which bad thoughts enter the mind and heart 
and soul of man and make man unhappy ; 3) to pray to 
God continually to preserve us a pure heart; 4) 
strengthen our will-power by frequent reception of the 
sacraments of penance and holy communion. 

II. Forbidden by the sixth commandment are: 

1. 1) Not only adultery, 2) unchaste freedoms 
between the married but 3) also fornication, 4) un- 
chaste liberties between the sexes and 5) between per- 
sons of the same sex, or 6) with animals, and 7) every 



312 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

thing in looks, language, songs, hearing, reading, occa- 
sions, that lead to them. The world is full of unhap- 
piness, because it is full of impurity. The bottom of 
hell is paved with the impure. Oh, for the happiness 
of a pure mind, heart and soul and body that men and 
women cast away for a moment of beastly lust ! Be- 
ware of the first step. Have you fallen, unfortunately, 
and as often, as you do, there is nothing else left for 
you to do, but to wash yourself by true sorrow and 
sincere confession. For that purpose Christ left the 
sacrament of penance to his holy Church, where we 
have absolute assurance of forgiveness. Behold, she 
is a good Church to belong to : for the good to remain 
good, and for the weak to become better. 

Seventh Commandment: "Thou shalt not steal." 

In the fifth commandment God made provision for 
our personal safety ; in the sixth for our moral safety ; 
in the seventh for the safety of our property. 

i) What does it command? 

1. To leave everybody his own and to give to every- 
body his own by promptly paying all lawful debts for 
wages, salary and goods, and to return lost property, 
when found, and to restore stolen goods and to indem- 
nify the owner for all loss sustained by the theft, or by 
fraud, or misappropriation, misrepresentation, breach 
of trust or promise, or injury to his property. 

2. To make an honest living by honest labor and 
occupation. 

3. Not to consider honest labor a disgrace, for it is 
not. Honest labor of the hands and of the mind of 
every description is elevating. It ennobles man. It 
sweetens life and it is pleasing in the sight of God and 
to all right-thinking men. Toil of all kinds, judiciously 



SEVENTH COMMANDMENT. TEN-SPOT CARDS 313 

performed, does not shorten life ; but it promotes good 
health, strengthens body, mind and soul and lays up 
a competence for rainy days and for a happy old age 
and a dollar for charitable and religious purposes. 

II. What is prohibited by the seventh command- 
ment? 

The taking, receiving, keeping, injuring, destroying, 
what belongs to another, whether it is obtained by 
stealing, secretly or openly taking, or by robbery, or by 
fraud, by misrepresentation, begging under false pre- 
tenses, unjust lawsuits, dishonest insurances, wasting 
time at work, squandering one's own money in drink 
and sin, cheating in buying, selling, trading, or gamb- 
ling, — all are forbidden by the seventh commandment, 
whether they are committed by one, or more, by an 
army, government or political party, as, for instance, 
socialists do, or, at least, intend to do. Nothing is 
clearer in the Bible, than the right to private owner- 
ship of property. If any one has in any one of the 
many ways in important or less important matters 
transgressed this commandment, restitution must be 
made, at least in intent, before the sin can be forgiven. 
Beware of all these sins. There is no blessing on ill- 
gotten goods. You will lose three and four times in 
other ways, what you think to gain by them; and, if 
you do not make restitution in this life, you will have 
to do so at heaven's gate, before you can get in. Hence, 
avoid those sins. Do not sell eternal joys for a little 
worldly goods or temporary gain. If you have, unfor- 
tunately, done so, go to a confessor of the Catholic 
Church at the first opportunity for confession and 
advice. 



314 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

Eighth Commandment: "Thou shalt not bear false 
witness against thy neighbor." 

In the fourth commandment almighty God defines 
the duty of members of the human family toward each 
other ; in the fifth commandment he protects our body ; 
in the sixth our virtue ; in the seventh our property and 
in the eighth our good name. 

I. What is commanded by it? 

1. To take care of our own good name. How ? i ) 
By cultivating a pure, clean, upright and honest mind 
and by a God-fearing life ; 2) truthfulness in all things ; 
3) sincerity in all speech. Everybody loves a truthful, 
sincere and upright person. Always speak the truth, as 
you know it. 

2. We must not only not injure the good name of 
others, but also defend it against all unjust aggression, 
and return it, if we have injured it or deprived others 
of it. Restitution for the injury of another's good 
name or reputation must be made just so, as the viola- 
tion of the seventh commandment demands restitu- 
tion, because the good name and reputation are real, 
valuable goods. Beware of these sins, for restitution 
for them is very difficult. To know, what our duty is 
towards others, is very simple ; the Bible says : "Do to 
others, as you wish them to do to you." 

II. What is forbidden by the eighth command- 
ment? Anything and everything in speech, writing, 
printing, signs, that in any way is injurious to our own, 
or to another's reputation and good name. Some ways 
are: 

1. False testimony, lies in any and every case, 
whether in a court of law, or whether before one, or 
more listeners, and the helpers to such injuries, as 



EIGHTH COMMANDMENT. TEN-SPOT CARDS 315 

lawyers, judges, superiors or officers of any kind, are 
doubly guilty. 

2. Speaking ill of others, whether such speaking is 
true, or false. If false, it is slander and calumny. If 
it is told of true faults, it is back-biting. Everything, 
that you say of others, must be true, but not every- 
thing that is true, you may say. You have faults 
enough of your own. Correct them. You would not 
like to have others speak of your true faults, much less 
magnify them, or accuse you of such faults, as you are 
not guilty of. 

3. Jealousy and rash judgment, imputing evil in- 
tentions to others even for good deeds; betraying of 
secrets ; reading letters of others, are all forbidden by 
this eighth commandment. 

4. Lies, untruths of all kinds for any reason what- 
ever, even if in stories, jokes, "just for fun". A lie is 
always a lie and, consequently, always offensive to 
God, who is infinite truth itself, and, consequently, al- 
ways injurious to yourself, if not, also, to others. 

5. Hypocrisy and flattery in word and deed. They 
are always degrading. 

6. Listening to any of those things, by which the 
eighth commandment is violated. If no one would lis- 
ten to them, scarcely any one would transgress this 
law, and, consequently, would not offend God nor oth- 
ers by its transgressions. 

Ninth Commandment: "Thou shalt not covet thy 
neighbor's wife." 

By the foregoing commandments on the second 
slate of stone God has protected i) our social rights, 
2) our body, 3) our virtue, 4) our property, 5) our 
good name. He, now, by the ninth commandment pro- 



316 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

tects even our own hearts against dangerous affections 
and protects others even against unchaste thoughts of 
another, demonstrating thereby, that man is responsi- 
ble to God, not only for his actions and omissions of 
good deeds, but, also, for his desires. 

I. What does it command? 

The sixth commandment commands purity in deed. 
This one commands to expel unchaste thoughts and 
desires and imagination directed towards others, for 
they have a right, that others think of them in a chaste 
and pure manner. This must be done continually at 
once and all life long. To be impure in desires is in- 
dulging in impurities, nastiness of the soul, as viola- 
tions of the sixth commandment are of the body. Be- 
ware of them, for they are the source of the actions 
that violate the sixth commandment. 

II. What does it prohibit? All wilful, unchaste 
desires, imaginations, directed to persons of different, 
or even of the same sex. It is precisely confession in 
the Catholic Church, that keeps both men's and wo- 
men's minds pure ; for confession is both a preventive 
and a cleansing power. 

Tenth Commandment: "Thou shalt not covet thy 
neighbor's goods. 

In the seventh commandment God protects our prop- 
erty from being taken away. In this one he even pro- 
tects it against unwarranted longings of others to pos- 
sess it. It is the protection of the seventh command- 
ment, for it commands men to be just and honest even 
in thoughts and desires, just as the ninth command- 
ment commands men to be pure in thoughts and desires 
and imaginations. 



TENTH COMMANDMENT. TEN-SPOT CARDS 317 

I. What does it command? 

It commands us to be satisfied with our own and to 
permit others to enjoy their goods. It is again : "Do 
to others, as you wish them to do to you." 

II. What does it forbid? 

All envious thoughts and desires and longings after 
what others have and are and are considered to be. 

LESSON from the ten commandments. God is 
love. He demands love toward himself and charity 
toward all from all, who are created according to his 
own image and likeness. The ten commandments 
show man, how to apply this law of love toward God 
and man. Take the ten commandments away and 
human society falls. They are, consequently, not a 
burden but a great protection for both the bodily and 
spiritual life of man on earth and a sure guide to a 
happy immortality in heaven. They, however, do not 
take away man's free-will. He may choose to obey 
them, or to transgress them ; but he is not free to take 
the consequences, neither here nor hereafter. The 
Catholic Church is the greatest power on earth, incul- 
cating all obligations of all the commandments. Con- 
sequently, she is the greatest power for good for the 
individual and for the nation. Study her. She is the 
grandest institution on earth. After you know her 
well, you will like her. 

SECTION III. 

Commandments of the Church. 

CHAPTER I. 



Precepts of the Church in General. 

i. To reach heaven we must keep the ten com- 
mandments of God, do what they command, and avoid, 



318 



CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 



what they forbid. This is not all. We must, also, 
observe the commandments of the Catholic Church, 
which largely point out the manner, in which the ten 
commandments of God are to be fulfilled. 

Has the Catholic Church a right to make laws, bind- 
ing under sin and in conscience ? Let us see. 

2. Every society has a right to make laws for its 
own members. The Catholic Church is that society 
established by Christ for leading men to salvation. 
Hence, she must have the right to enact laws for every 
thing, that concerns religion ; not for business, nor for 
politics. 

3. Jesus Christ, her divine Founder, gave her that 
power, saying to the apostles and through them to all 
their lawful successors : 
"He that heareth you, 
heareth me." (Lu. 10, 
16.) The legislator must 
have a right to punish dis- 
obedience to his law. 
Hence, Jesus said: "He 
who does not hear the 
Church, let him be to thee 
as a heathen and a publi- 
can." (Mt. 18, 17.) 

4. The commandments 
of the Church are chiefly 
six. There are many 
other regulations. The 
six precepts are repre- 
sented in the card-deck by 
all four six-spots. The six of hearts represents them 
as an act of love, which the Church bears for all men ; 
the six of diamonds represents the everlasting rewards 



t* 


* 


* 


* 


* 


▼9 



PRECEPTS OF CHURCH. SIX-SPOT CARDS 319 

for their observance ; the six of spades represents death 
for disobedience to them; the six of clubs represents 
the punishment, excluding from her fold their vio- 
lators. 

CHAPTER II. 



The six commandments of the Church are: 

I. To assist with attention and devotion at holy 
Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation, because 
that is man's chief act of divine worship in the New 
Law. The third commandment of God tells us to 
sanctify the Sunday. The Church, as teacher tells us, 
in what manner and at what time we are to do that. 
Nothing fairer, than that. 

II. To fast and abstain on days commanded by the 
Church. This is a stumbling block for non-Catholics ; 
but it is all founded on the Bible. Our Lord com- 
mands mortification, self-denial and penance : "If any 
man will follow me, let him deny himself." (Lu. 9, 
23.) "Unless you do penance, you shall all perish." 
(Lu. 13, 5.) There are 53 cards in the card-deck; 
the Bible mentions fasting 53 times, as an act of pen- 
ance and mourning. The Church, as the wise and lov- 
ing mother, directs us, how and when we shall prac- 
tice those duties. How appropriately cards teach ! 

OBJECTION : 1) "I fail to see how eating meat 
on certain days can defile the soul." So did Adam and 
Eve fail to see, how the forbidden apple could defile 
their souls. Look at the consequences! 2) "Meat is 
just as good, as any other food." So was that apple. 
There is too much meat-eating. It is not good for the 
health. Pork makes men lazy. Beef makes them fero- 
cious. All meats make men animalistic, lustful. Meats 



320 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

were not the natural foods for men created by God in 
paradise ; but they were fruit, cereals, vegetables, fresh 
eggs and fish. Meats bring on many kinds of diseases 
and, like liquor, make men prematurely stiff, blunt and 
old. 

III. To sincerely confess our sins to a duly author- 
ized priest at least once a year. Our Lord instituted 
the sacrament of penance for that purpose, and the 
Church as his duly constituted teacher tells us, when 
we are to make use of that means of having our sins 
forgiven. Unless the Church did this, the human pas- 
sions and weaknesses would find many excuses, why 
not to confess. 

IV. To worthily receive the holy Eucharist at least 
once a year and that during Easter time. Our Lord 
said: "Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, 
you shall not have life in you." (Jo. 6, 54.) The 
Church again, as his divinely commissioned teacher, 
tells us, how and when we are to perform this duty. 

V. To contribute our just share to the support of 
religion. In the Old Law God commanded to give an- 
nually one-tenth of all increase for this purpose. (P. 
58.) The Catholic Church reminds us of this impor- 
tant duty. 

OBJECTION is often made by stingy, avaricious, 
people, that the Catholic priests want nothing but 
money. No objection is less founded. Churches must 
be erected and maintained for becoming divine wor- 
ship; school-houses must be built and sustained for 
teaching the children to so live, that they will obtain 
the end and object of their creation ; teachers and pas- 
tors ought to be paid decently. The Bible says : "He, 
who serves the altar, shall live by the altar." "They, 
who preach the Gospel, shall live by the Gospel." (I. 



PRECEPTS OF CHURCH. SIX-SPOT CARDS 321 

Cor. 9, 13, 14.) If people would do, what God com- 
manded, to give ten per cent annually of all their re- 
ceipts of grain, fruit, stocks, earnings, salaries, wages, 
etc., for religious purposes, there would never be a call 
for any thing more. If people gave for religious pur- 
poses one-half as much, as they squander every year, 
everything would be well taken care of. God demands 
some of man's love in holy faith, hope and charity; 
some of his time by the third commandment of God, 
and some of his earnings and goods. This support of 
religion is a duty, not a choice, and somewhere those, 
who neglect it, will have to make restitution, either on 
this earth, or at heaven's gate, before they can get in. 
Better fulfil it here. The Bible says, "God was angry, 
when the people did not pay the tithes." (Mai. 3, 8.) 
It is not otherwise now. 

VI. Not to marry against the laws of the Church. 
They are many, all enacted to safeguard the happiness 
of the married and the family and to sanctify the bond 
of marriage. God in the sixth commandment gave a 
speciallaw for its protection. The Catholic Church, 
as God's teacher and administratrix of his holy sacra- 
ments, explains more minutely the meaning of that 
Law of God in relation to the matrimonial union by 
her marriage laws. Before making any engagement, 
go and consult your pastor and guard yourself against 
any unhappy step for life. 



PART FIVE. 



Divine Grace. 

1. In order to enjoy a game of cards for recreation 
i) it is necessary to have the card-deck; 2) then it is 
required to know the rules of the game. The better 
they are known and the more judiciously they are ap- 
plied, the more hope and confidence of success will 
there be; 3) in order to win out it is of importance to 
hold the winning trump cards and from start to finish 
close attention to the game is requisite. 

2. It is not otherwise in the great journey of man's 
life from time to eternity, from earth to heaven. In 
order to travel on this journey securely 1) the road 
must have a solid foundation, else there is danger of 
getting mired and wrecked and of being injured, crip- 
pled, delayed and of not arriving at the journey's end. 
That means, that we must have the true faith, exercise 
the true religion and board and remain on the true me- 
dium of advancing, namely, the One Holy Catholic 
Apostolic Church, as has been described in Part III; 
2) the road must be made passable and walkable by 
hope, as has been told in Part IV, Section I ; in any 
other case, we will despair, or expect too much from 
the carrier, the Catholic Church, and from the merits 
of Christ; 3) we must follow minutely all directions 
and all guide-boards on the way ; we must not be led by 
our own opinions and inclinations, nor by unsafe of- 
God-unauthorized guides, as has been clearly set forth 
in Section II and III of Part IV on the commandments 



DIVINE GRACE. HEARTS AND DIAMONDS 323 

of God and the precepts of the Church. In order to 
win out, in order to arrive safely in heaven, our eternal 
home of never-ending bliss, it 'is necessary to employ 
the right kind of means for this all important journey. 

3. God has thus far given us everything, as we 
have seen in the foregoing instructions. He has cre- 
ated heaven for us ; he has given us an immortal soul, 
capable of knowing him and his holy will ; he has given 
us his divine light of faith, his bond of religion, his 
directing Church, his guiding stars of hope and charity 
in the commandments. * Has he, also, placed the means 
at our disposal for proceeding on the way to eternal 
happiness? He has in his divine grace. Grace is rep- 
resented in the card-deck by the two suits of hearts 
and diamonds, because it is a gift of divine love, and 
because the smallest spark of divine grace is more pre- 
cious, than all the diamonds of this world. Hence, it 
is a great misfortune never to possess it or to diminish 
it or to lose it by grievous sin. 

4. What is divine grace? By divine grace we un- 
derstand a gratuitous, supernatural gift, divine help, 
destined by God to enable us to do all the foregoing, 
which is demanded of us by faith, hope and charity, 
and thus to merit heaven by our co-operation with it 
and in consequence of the merits of Christ's redemp- 
tion. Consequently, the great game of life is not hope- 

| less; the great journey into heaven is not so difficult 
after all; for God does all the principal things and 
gives us the necessary strength, his help, his grace, to 
do the little, that is expected of us. 

5. Divine grace is of different kinds and quantities. 
We cannot get too much of any of them, but God gives 
sufficient grace for salvation to every man, who uses 



324 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

the divinely instituted means for making himself 
worthy of them and for obtaining them. 

6. Divine grace is absolutely necessary for salva- 
tion. That is the reason, why Jesus said: Without 
me (my help, •my grace) you can do nothing good, 
meritorious for heaven. (Jo. 15, 5.) 

7. How can we obtain divine grace? It cannot be 
bought by worldly means. To attempt to buy or sell 
it is the horrible sin of simony. The two chief means 
of obtaining grace are 1) prayer and 2) the sacra- 
ments. 

CHAPTER I. 



Prayer. 

1. What is prayer? Prayer is the elevation of the 
mind and heart to God for the purpose 1) of adoring 
and praising him, 2) of thanking him for all his count- 
less benefits, 3) of asking of him forgiveness for our 
offenses, and 4) of asking of him new graces and 
blessings, that we may fulfill all our obligations toward 
him, toward our neighbor and ourselves. In simple 
words, praying is speaking with God. 

2. Prayer is 1 ) a privilege obtained for us through 
the merits of Jesus Christ. If it were granted to each 
human being to approach Almighty God in prayer only 
once in a lifetime and that only after long preparation 
in learning the necessary truths about faith, hope and 
charity and the commandments, as they have been ex- 
plained in this book, and only after a long journey, 
and, perhaps, after paying a large entrance fee, oh, 
with what attention, devotion, perseverance, earnest- 
ness, hope and confidence, would every one pray at 
that one chance of prayer ! Oh, how we would devote 



PRAYER. HEARTS AND DIAMONDS 325 

every moment, allowed us for such an audience to tell, 
what we wanted God to give us and to forgive us. 
Now, since God in his infinite goodness has made it 
possible for us to approach him in prayer anywhere, 
everywhere and at all times, is prayer less of a privi- 
lege ? Surely, it is all the greater. Hence, we all ought 
to make a better and more frequent use of it. 2) 
Prayer is a duty. No man has a choice to pray or not 
to pray. We need not first take this duty upon our- 
selves by what some falsely term "taking religion", or 
joining the Church. We have that duty from the very 
fact, that we are GocTs creatures. The Bible says: 
"Neglect not to pray." (Eccl. 7, 10.) ; "be instant in 
prayer." (Col. 4, 2.) 

3. Prayer is absolutely necessary for salvation, be- 
cause divine grace is absolutely necessary for salva- 
tion, and prayer is a means of obtaining grace. 

4. When ought we to pray ? Jesus says : "Watch 
ye, praying at all times." (Lu. 21, 36.) We can pray 
"without ceasing," as Saint Paul puts it, by offering 
to God all our thoughts, words, good actions and our 
daily works. Thus everything, our whole life, will 
become meritorious before God and will all be a prayer. 
However, we ought to pray at stated times: 1) on 
rising in the morning; 2) at retiring in the evening; 3) 
more so on Sundays and holy days; 4) when prepar- 
ing and giving thanks for the reception of the sacra- 
ments; 5) in time of temptation; 6) in the hour of 
death, when the devil will make a last hard struggle to 
get our soul. 

5. How ought we to pray? 1) With any simple 
words, that come to your mind, just like you would ask 
any thing from a loving, kind, father or mother or 
friend : "Blessed be the name of Jesus/' "God have 



326 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

mercy on me." "God forgive me my sins." "Jesus 
help me." "Jesus grant me thy love." "Mother Mary 
pray for me." They are all good, simple prayers. 
2) The best and greatest prayer of all prayers is the 
"Our Father", commonly called the "Lord's Prayer", 
which Jesus taught us. In it is contained everything 
that we must pray for to God; 3) next to it is the 
"Hail Mary", also, taken from the Bible; 4) any act of 
contrition, as for instance: "O, God, I am sorry for 
having offended thee by my sins ; I hate them ; I do not 
want to sin again. Help me by thy grace." 5) Good 
intention : "Everything I do, I will do, as thou, O God, 
wiliest it." These little prayers, a) the "Our Father", 
b) the "Hail Mary", c) "Act of Contrition", and d) 
good intention will make a good morning and evening 
prayer. 6) The litanies of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, 
of the holy name of Jesus, of the Blessed Virgin Mary 
and of all the saints and the rosary are all beautiful 
prayers, for we thereby enlist others to pray for us, 
and all these prayers are founded on the Bible, as are 
all the doctrines and practices in the Holy Catholic 
Church. 

CHAPTER II. 



DIVISION I. 

Sacraments. 

The second great and most powerful means of ob- 
taining the grace of God are the seven holy sacraments. 

1. Definition: A sacrament is 1) a certain out- 
ward sign or action, 2) instituted by Christ, 3) for the 
purpose of giving grace to souls. 

2. They thus correspond to the full nature of man : 
1) The senses feed on their outward sign and action; 



SACRAMENTS. HEARTS AXD DIAMONDS 327 

2) the soul feeds on their sanctifying grace, which 3) 
God, the Creator of man gives. 

3. God alone can give grace ; consequently, he can 
attach it to any outward sign or action that will infalli- 
bly confer it of its own power in virtue of his divine 
institution. The sacraments, consequently, do, what 
they say ; for instance, in baptism, water coupled with 
the proper actions of washing and the words saying so, 
does actually cleanse the soul. As the sun gives light 
by its own inherent power, thus do these certain signs 
or actions confer grace by their own inherent power. 
But, as man can place obstacles in the way of the sun's 
light, so can he in virtue of his free-will, place obstacles 
in the way of divine grace by refusing to accept it or 
by keeping mortal sin on his soul. Consequently, for 
their validity and efficacy they are not dependent on 
the piety, sanctity, virtues, nor private conduct of the 
one administering them, but on the disposition of the 
recipient. 

4. The administrator of the sacraments must have 
received power from Christ through the holy sacra- 
ment of ordination, in order to give validity, and he 
must perform the sacred rite exactly by word and ac- 
tion, as Christ instituted it. 

5. The sacraments are necessary for salvation, be- 
cause they are a necessary means of grace. 

6. Some sacraments, like baptism, confirmation 
and holy orders, cannot be received* more than once by 
the same person, because they impress an indelible 
mark on the soul. Some others, as baptism, penance, 
are for the purpose of forgiving sin : others, as con- 
firmation, holy Eucharist, holy orders and matrimony, 
can be received worthily only, when the soul is free 
from mortal sin. 



328 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

7. Seven is a holy and mystical number in the 
Bible. It is not insignificant even in the card-deck. 
If the fifty-two cards of the card-deck are multiplied 
by seven, and the joker added, the result is 365, the 
number of days in the year, indicating, that the seven 
sacraments are, like prayer, for every day in the year, 
and the 365 days of the year signify our lifetime 
rounded out, and that, consequently, some of the sacra- 
ments, at least, are for each one for each day of his 
life. They are represented in the card-deck by the 
seven of hearts, because they are gifts of pure love 
from our blessed Lord ; by the seven of diamonds, be- 
cause they are more precious than all the diamonds of 
this world; for all the wealth of all the world cannot 
obtain for us the saving grace, which they confer. The 
sacraments, in a word, are the God-appointed means of 
applying Christ's redemption to our souls. 

DIVISION II. 

1. Baptism is the first sacrament, because, unless 
we are baptized, we cannot receive any other sacra- 
ment; it is the most necessary sacrament, because with- 
out it there is no salvation for any one. Jesus says: 
"Unless a man be born again of water and the holy 
Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven." 
(J°- 3> 5-) Christ made no exception. Man's thinking 
and opinionating changes nothing herein. "Man" here 
in the words of Christ signifies "human being". Chil- 
dren are human beings, too. 

2. Baptism is primarily for the purpose of forgiv- 
ing original sin ; for other personal, actual sin, Christ 
instituted the sacrament of penance. Children are af- 
fected with original sin; (P. 184.) therefore, they need 



SACRAMENTS. SEVEN OF HEARTS AND DIAMONDS 329 

baptism. The Bible says : i ) "By one man sin entered 
this world and by sin death ;" (Rom. 5, 19.) 2) "we 
were by nature children of wrath." (Eph. 2, 3.) 3) The 
apostles baptized whole families, among whom there 
were children. (Acts. 10, 48.) Nothing is clearer in 
the Bible, than the necessity of baptism for all without 
exception of age, condition, race, birth, or color. If 
you are not baptized, go to a Catholic priest for in- 
struction at once. Do not jeopardize your eternal hap- 
piness by neglecting it. 

3. Baptism cleanses us from original sin and from 
all other sins, committed before it, and it releases all 
punishment, due to sin, clothes the soul with sanctify- 
ing grace, with the virtues of faith, hope and charity 
and makes us children of God and members of his true 
Church and heirs to the kingdom of heaven. 

4. The word "baptize" means to wash. It does not 
mean "to immerse", yet washing can be done by im- 
mersing, by sprinkling, by rubbing with water in the 
hand or sponge or cloth, or by pouring water on the 
bare skin, preferably on the forehead of the one to be 
baptized, and the person performing that action, not 
some one else, saying at the same time, having the in- 
tention to do what the true Church of Christ does, "I 
baptize thee in the name of the Father and of the Son 
and of the holy Ghost," (Mt. 28, 19) and no other 
word. Not a single word may be omitted ; not a single 
word may be added ; for just so and not otherwise did 
Jesus instruct the apostles for it. 

5. The priest is the ordinary minister of this sac- 
rajnent, and the church* is the ordinary place for its 
administration ; but, in case of necessity, in case of 
danger of death by delay, any person doing and saying, 



330 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

what is prescribed in the foregoing number, can and 
should validly baptize any one, any where and at any 
time. 

. II. Confession. 

i. After the child has come to the use of reason, 
has learned the use of the free-will, has learned to dis- 
tinguish between right and wrong and has, unfortu- 
nately, decided for the wrong, has transgressed God's 
holy law, committed sin, defiled his soul, (and every 
sin, great or small, does dirty the soul) there is nothing 
else to do but to cleanse, wash, the soul in the holy 
sacrament of penance by a good, humble, sincere, con- 
trite confession to a Catholic priest, take the penance 
imposed by him, resolve not to sin again, and receive 
absolution of sin from him ; for that is the sacrament 
instituted by our Lord for that very purpose. All this 
holds good not only of children grown up, but for all 
of us without any exception, for we are all sinners, 
more or less, and are apt to dirty our souls by sin, just 
as we are apt to dirty our body, our hands. If we slip 
and fall, there is nothing else to do, but to rise again. 
Just so it is with the spiritual life : if we have the mis- 
fortune to fall into sin, much or ever so little, there is 
nothing else to do, but to rise and wash our souls in the 
sacrament of penance. "If we say, we have no sin, we 
deceive ourselves". (Jo. 3, 4.) Confession is not only 
a curative, cleansing, remedy for sin ; it is, also, a pre- 
ventive remedy, that means, that people, who go to 
confession frequently, are not so apt to fall into sin, 
just as persons, who frequently wash themselves and 
brush their clothes even if they see but little or no dirt, 
are more careful, not so apt to dirty themselves. 

2. This sacrament is a stumbling block, a sort of a 
bug-a-boo, for those outside of the Catholic Church, 



CONFESSION. SEVEN OF HEARTS AND DIAMONDS 331 

and, yet, nothing is more natural, nothing more simple, 
nothing more in correspondence with the mercy of 
God; and, if there were no other arguments in favor 
of the Catholic Church, but this one, that she has the 
sacrament of penance, that argument alone ought to be 
sufficient to prove, that she is the only true Church of 
Christ. 

3. Confession was practiced in the Old Testament : 

1) God called Adam and Eve to account for their 
disobedience. Why ? To confess their sin. They did 
confess, did penance and were saved. God called Cain 
to account for the murder of his brother Abel. Cain 
denied his guilt, made a bad confession. 

2) By many sacrifices which had to be offered for 
certain sins. By them, consequently, people had to 
confess their sins openly ; for, when any one offered up 
a certain sacrifice for a certain sin, it was clear to 
every one, that he had committed that sin. 

3) The Bible says: "If any man or woman shall 
commit any one of those sins, which men are apt to 
commit, they shall confess their sins." (IV. Mos. 5, 
7.) God leaves us no choice. Confess to whom? To 
the winds ? To the meeting ? To God ? God did not 
say so. Undoubtedly, to the priest to whom the sacri- 
fices w r ere to be brought. 

4) They did practise confession in the Old Law. 
Adam and Eve confessed to God alone, because God 
had no one to take his place then ; but as soon, as God 
had someone to make his substitute, people did con- 
fess to them: a) Thus king David confessed to the 
prophet Nathan; (II. Kgs. 12, 13.) b) "the people 
came and confessed their sins to Saint John the Bap- 
tist," not to God alone (Mt. 3, 6.) c) Christ said : "go, 
show yourself to the priest." (Mar. 1, 44.) Why? 



332 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

To uphold the office of the priest in forgiving sin, as 
already ordered in IV. Mos. 5, 7. (P. 73.) 

4. Christ promised the power of forgiving sin to 
Saint Peter in his office, as visible head of his visible 
Church on earth : "To thee I will give the keys of the 
kingdom of heaven." (Mt. 16, 19.) To open heaven's 
gate, it clearly is necessary to forgive sin, for nothing 
defiled can enter heaven. Later on Jesus gave this 
same power to all the apostles, saying: "Receive ye 
the holy Ghost, whose sins you shall forgive, they are 
forgiven: whose sins you shall retain, they are re- 
tained." (Mt. 18, 18.) That was and is a part of the 
ordination of the priesthood, by which this power is 
given. He made the apostles by that ordination, the 
judges with full power. He made no exception. The 
same judgeship is conferred together with all the pow- 
er of forgiving sin to the priest in holy ordination. It 
is idle to maintain, that no one need go to confession, 
because Christ did not in so many words command to 
do so, because a) from that very fact, that he gave the 
apostles the power to forgive sin, it naturally follows 
that people were to confess them ; b) that obligation to 
confess the sins was already clearly laid down in the 
Old Testament, as has been shown in the preceding 
number. 

5. It would be blasphemy to maintain that the 
power of forgiving sin died with the apostles ; for that 
would accuse our Lord of the unfairness and the in- 
justice of affording the people of their time a better 
opportunity of saving their souls, than all others after 
them. Just as the apostles through the holy sacrament 
of ordination transmitted the power to baptize, just so 
did they transmit the power of forgiving sin by the 
holy sacrament of ordination, by which sacrament that 



CONFESSION. SEVEN OF HEARTS AND DIAMONDS 333 

same power of forgiving sin has been and is and al- 
ways will be transmitted to every priest. 

6. The confession of sins to some one, who can 
heal them and advise, how to avoid them, is so natural, 
that even the heathens of old taught and practiced it : 

i) Pythagoras said: "Sins must not be covered 
up with words ; but they must be unfolded, in order 
that by correction and punishment they may be 
healed." To unfold sin is the same as to confess sin. 
Sins are wounds of the soul. That is the reason, why 
the confessor is, also, a spiritual physician. If you 
want a physician to help you in sickness, you must not 
only tell him your troubles in a general way, but state 
them in particular; just so it is with the sickness of the 
soul, which is sin, General accusation of being a sin- 
ner will not do the work. Remedies cannot be pre- 
scribed, advice cannot be given, as it ought to be given, 
upon such general accusations. 

2) Aristotle says : "To confess one's sins, is a sign 
of sound reason." This is for all those, who will be 
guided by nothing but reason. Aristotle was the clear- 
est reasoner, that ever lived. Reason does not rebel 
against the oral, explicit, full, sincere, contrite confes- 
sion of sin to a priest, but clearly advocates it. 

7. Evil men have slandered the Catholic Church, 
falsely claiming, that some Pope, some bishop, some 
priest, has invented confession, when nothing is clearer 
from the Bible from the beginning of man all through 
to the present day, that oral and auricular confession 
is of divine ordinance, though in the Old Law it was 
not a sacrament. 

8. OBJECTIONS SOLVED: 1) "The priest is 
a man like any other man; how can he forgive sin?" 
He is and he is not. In his human nature he is : in his 



334 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

office he is not. The judge in court is a man like every 
other man in human nature, but not in his office. In 
his office he has power, which other men do not have. 
He can release, forgive, the offender his punishment; 
he can also sentence him, impose punishment. In like 
manner has the Catholic priest power of forgiving sin. 
Where does he get it? Through the means, which 
Christ instituted for the purpose of conferring that 
power, by the holy sacrament of ordination. 

2) "Confession is degrading." No ; it is not. The 
Bible does not say, that it is. Own up like a man ; that 
is not degrading, but elevating. Which of two sons 
do you like best : the one, who denies his faults, or the 
one who owns up to them? In confession the sinner 
need not be known, his face need not be seen by the 
priest, and not a word or sign is ever given by the priest 
to the sinner in consequence of the confession; for 
everything is settled right then and there once for all ; 
and, consequently, there is not, cannot be, a loss of 
reputation, nor do you lower yourself in the estimation 
of the priest any more by telling your sickness of the 
soul to him, than you do by telling your bodily sick- 
ness to your doctor. The priest thinks nothing about it 
afterwards. He is sorry, because you sinned; but 
glad, because you repented, confessed and are recon- 
ciled to God again. The seal, secret, of confession is 
absolute for all eternity. He cannot talk to you, nor to 
any one else about it, nor can he by the least sign dem- 
onstrate, what has passed in the confessional. The 
seal of the confessional never has been broken. Many 
priests have suffered and died, because they would not 
break the sacred secret of the confessional. 

3) "We can confess our sins in a general way and 
our preacher can give us a lecture from the pulpit, and 



CONFESSION. SEVEN OF HEARTS AND DIAMONDS 335 

that suffices." Supposing, your doctor gave you a lec- 
ture on health in a general way would that cure you? 
Would that satisfy you? Could he do anything else, 
if you acknowledged only in a general way, that you 
were ill. Just so little, does such meaningless confes- 
sion and instruction satisfy the needs of your soul ; nor 
does the Bible teach that proceeding. It does not say : 
"They confessed themselves sinners," but "they con- 
fessed their sins", and not to God alone either. 

4) "Non-Catholics believe in the forgiveness of sin 
upon repentance only." The Bible does not say, that 
that is the divine institution for the forgiveness of sin ; 
but the Bible does say: "If any shall commit any sin, 
let them confess their sin." Surely, it is much harder 
to believe in the forgiveness of sin on repentance only, 
in which you judge your own case, to which no one has 
a right, and in which you do so without penance and 
the assurance of forgiveness from God's authorized 
minister, than to believe in the forgiveness of sin in 
the way it is practiced in the Catholic Church. 

5) "God alone can forgive sin." That is Catholic 
doctrine exactly, and just because he alone can forgive 
sin, that is the reason, why he alone can give that 
power to man. That he has done so, is as clear from 
the Bible, as anything in it, and that he wants that 
power to be used, is just as clear; and that, conse- 
quently, he wants men to confess to man, is just as 
clear. Why do you want to get around it, if you be- 
lieve in the Bible? 

6) "Supposing, I confess my sins to God alone in 
secret, why will that not do?" Supposing you pay 
your taxes directly to the President of the United 
States ? Will he take them ? No. Why not ? Because he 
has other officers for that purpose. So has God other 



336 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

officers for the purpose of receiving your confession. 
Supposing, you baptize yourself? Can you do so? 
Why not? Because Christ has not instituted regener- 
ation that way. Why, then, stop with baptism? Why 
not observe the whole Bible? If you want the grace 
of God, you must make use of those means, which 
Christ has instituted for the purpose of conveying 
them. If you want to go to heaven, you must follow 
that road, which God has marked out for you, that is, 
through his holy Church. You cannot construct a road 
yourself. Just so little can you construct a way of get- 
ting rid of your sins. The way, the means, appointed 
by God himself is the confession to his appointed min- 
isters. The sacraments are means of obtaining God's 
precious grace. Christ wills, that they be administered 
by man to man. You cannot construct means of your 
own for obtaining those sacramental graces. Confes- 
sion is a sacrament; consequently, Christ wills that it 
be administered to us by others. 

7) "Confession makes sin easy." "People can sin 
in the hope of forgiveness of sin by confession." An- 
swer: a) Well instructed Catholics know better. They 
are taught that to sin in the hope of forgiveness is the 
very grievous sin of presumption itself (P. 275) and 
that that is very dangerous; for God may not grant 
them the opportunity, as man may die suddenly in his 
sins, as many do. b) Confession does not make sin 
easy ; but concealment does make sin easy. The very 
obligation of confession keeps many a one from sin. 
If people wish to lead a good christian life, they con- 
fess. If they want to follow their passions, they re- 
main away from confession. Therefore, the devil and 
the world hate it. Hence, confession is not only a 
means of having committed sin forgiven, but it is, also, 



ffl! 



CONFESSION. SEVEN OF HEARTS AND DIAMONDS 337 

a strong preventive and does in reality prevent count- 
less sins. Therefore, no one should say: I do not 
need confession; I have not sinned. Such deceive 
themselves; but even if it were true, that they have 
no sins, they need confession as a preventive against 
sin. 

8) "How can a sin be forgiven by merely telling 
it?" It is not forgiven by merely telling it. What is 
necessary for a good confession? a) Fervent prayer 
for the grace to make a good confession; b) careful 
examination of conscience, that one may know all one's 
sins, which are not yet confessed, so that he can tell 
them all by name and number ; c) true sorrow for sin 
for having offended God by them ; d) sincere confes- 
sion of them all without any exception to the priest for 
the purpose, with the intention, of receiving absolution 
from him; e) the firm purpose of doing better; f) the 
priest's absolution ; g) the performance of penance en- 
joined by the priest. Hence, telling the sin is only one 
part, not even the principal part of confession, but sor- 
row and absolution are the two principal parts. 

9. What questions are asked in the confessional by 
the confessor? Never any question out of curiosity; 
not even an unnecessary question: only such questions, 
as a prudent, courteous physician would ask t)f any 
patient, in order to properly diagnose the case. Very 
few questions are asked. In most confessions not a 
single one. 

10. What is given for penance? Never to pay 
money. Under no consideration can the confessor re- 
ceive money for pay for the forgiveness of sin neither 
in nor out of the confessional. Penances are usually 
some prayers. 



338 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

ii. What does confession do? 

i) It forgives sins. It takes a great load off our 
hearts. Try it. It fills the soul with consolation and 
renewed hope and courage. It cleanses the soul, and 
you feel better than after a good bath from all filth. 

2) It clothes the soul with precious sanctifying 
grace, restores it, if lost, and increases it, if not lost. 
It makes you a child of God again and restores to you 
the-by-mortal-sin-forfeited right of heaven. 

3) It prevents sin. Hence, every one needs it. 

4) It restores unjust goods and injured name and 
reputation and prevents goods and good name and rep- 
utation from being unjustly taken. That is the reason, 
why prudent experienced employers like Catholic em- 
ployees who go frequently to confession. 

5) It gives peace to the mind and soothes the 
nerves. Experienced physicians know this well. Hence, 
they are only too glad to have the priest attend to their 
sick for their spiritual wants. 

6) It cures secret evils in the world, which no 
human law can reach. 

7) Its good effects last for all the endless years of 
eternity. It is the most consoling and most efficacious 
means in the Catholic Church of reconciling men to 
men and to God, and that is one of the surest proofs 
that the Catholic Church and confession itself are 
divine — seven precious, diamond, fruits of confession. 

III. Confirmation. Our divine Lord was not 
content with instituting a sacrament, baptism, to for- 
give us original sin, and make us his children and heirs 
to heaven, and another sacrament, penance, to forgive 
us our own sins and to restore all those rights to us 
again, if we lost them by sin; but he, also, left us a 
sacrament, confirmation, which confers grace to make 



9 



CONFIRMATION. SEVEN OF HEARTS AND DIAMONDS 339 

us strong and perfect christians, so that we might fight 
the devil, the evil influences of the wicked in this world 
successfully, and that we might overcome our own 
sinful inclinations better. In it the Holy Ghost is im- 
parted to us in a particular manner, as Jesus had prom- 
ised him, and spiritual graces are given us to fight the 
spiritual battles successfully, in a word, to be stronger 
in mind and heart to do all, what faith, hope and char- 
ity demand of us, as is amply described in this book. 

IV. Holy Eucharist. Our Lord was not even sat- 
isfied with the institution of sacraments, that confer 
grace ; he, also, instituted one, in which he gives him- 
self as true God and true man under the appearance of 
bread and wine, the Most Holy Eucharist. The Holy 
Eucharist, consequently, is the body and blood, soul 
and divinity of Jesus Christ under the appearance of 
bread and wine. Receiving the Most Holy Eucharist 
in the Catholic Church is receiving holy communion. 
The offering up of it is the holy Mass. 

i. The holy Mass is the sacrifice of the New Law, 
which was prefigured by all the sacrifices of the Old 
Law. Jesus instituted it at his Last Supper, when he 
took bread and said of it : "This is my body." He did 
not say: This means my body; nor, this represents 
my body ; nor, this is a remembrance of my body. No ; 
but "It is my body." Consequently, what must have 
taken place with that bread ? Its substance, its nature, 
must have changed into the true body and blood of 
Christ, so that he, as true God and as true man, was 
truly present under the appearance of bread, which 
was then no longer bread, but only appeared to be 
bread to the eye, touch, smell and taste, but which was 
in reality himself. He gave to his apostles of it to eat. 
That was the first holy communion administered. 



340 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

Then he took the chalice, wherein was wine. He said 
of that wine : "This is the chalice of my blood/' How 
could he say so, if the substance of the wine had not 
changed into his blood? It did so change. Then he 
told the apostles to drink of it. Then he told them to 
do that same thing, what he had done. Thereby he 
gave the apostles that part of their ordination, which 
conferred on them, as it confers on every priest, the 
power of changing bread and wine into the true body 
and blood of Christ. He said to his apostles: "Do 
this in commemoration of me." What had he just 
done ? Changed the bread and wine into his own true 
body and blood and he commanded his apostles to do 
that very same thing. Consequently, he must have 
given them the power to do that same thing what he 
had done, to change the bread and the wine into his 
own body and blood. Nothing is clearer in the Bible 
than this. The apostles themselves exercised this 
power of consecrating, changing bread and wine, and 
they transmitted that same power in virtue of that 
power, which Christ gave them, saying : "All power is 
given to me in heaven and on earth. As the Father has 
sent me, thus I send you" (Mt. 28, 18.), fitted out with 
all this power. Consequently, they had power to trans- 
mit that power of preaching, baptising, confirming, for- 
giving sins, of changing the bread and the wine and of 
ordaining. Nothing is clearer in the Bible. 

2. When the bread and wine are changed and of- 
fered up to God in the holy Mass, that act becomes a 
true sacrifice of 1) adoration, 2) thanksgiving, 3) pro- 
pitiation, 4) impetration, which four-fold duty men 
have toward God, and the true religion must have one 
act, by which man can and does fulfill all these four- 
fold obligations in the best possible manner. True 



HOLY MASS. HEARTS AND DIAMONDS 341 

philosophy of religion demands that. Here, in the 
Mass, is that one great act instituted by Jesus Christ 
himself for that very purpose. This sacrifice is the 
foundation of all true religious worship, because by it 
we acknowledge God's supreme dominion over us, his 
total independence of us and our total dependence up- 
on him for every moment of our existence and for the 
attainment of our end of creation, eternal happiness in 
the next world. Sacrifice is the center of all true reli- 
gious worship, around which all other divine worship 
moves. It is the fountain-source, whence all other 
graces flow. That is the reason, why the Church 
obliges us to assist at it with attention and devotion on 
Sundays and holy days. 

3. Mass is the same sacrifice as the sacrifice of 
Christ on the cross on Mount Calvary ; only the exter- 
nal appearance is different : on Mount Calvary the sac- 
rifice was bloody ; in the Mass it is unbloody. What is 
necessary to make it the same sacrifice ? Three things : 

1 ) That the victim of both be the same. Christ was the 
victim on the cross on Mount Calvary. Christ as true 
God and as true man is offered up under the appear- 
ance of bread and wine in the Mass. Consequently, 
the victim is the same on the cross and in the Mass. 

2) That the priesthood offering it up in both be the 
same: Christ offered up himself on Mount Calvary: 
the priest, who participates in the priesthood of Christ, 
offers up Christ in the Mass. Consequently the priest- 
hood is the same in both. 3) That it be offered up for 
the same purpose: Christ offered himself up on the 
cross as a sacrifice of a) adoration, b) thanksgiving, 
c) forgiveness of sin, d) satisfaction for sin. The 
same is done in the holy Mass. Consequently, they are 
one and the same sacrifice. On the cross Christ paid 



342 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

the price of our redemption. In the Mass that price of 
that redemption is applied to our souls. 

4. When we receive as spiritual food for our souls 
the most holy Eucharist under the appearance of bread, 
we receive holy communion in obedience to Christ's 
command: "Except you eat the flesh of the Son of 
man, you shall not have life in you." (Jo. 6, 54.) 

5. To receive holy communion worthily, we must 
be in the state of sanctifying grace, free from mortal 
sin, and have sufficient understanding about it to know, 
that it is not common bread, but that; it is the living 
Jesus Christ, as true God and as true man under the 
appearance of bread. That is the reason, why previ- 
ous instruction by the priest is necessary. 

6. What does it do for us? 1) Worthily received 
with true faith, hope and charity, it gives us an abun- 
dance of sanctifying grace; 2) it may remit venial sin, 
although it is not for that purpose; 3) it makes us 
strong against sin; 4) it preserves from sin with our 
co-operation; 5) it closely unites us to God here on 
earth and is a pledge of his union in heaven. It is the 
grandest and holiest thing in the Catholic Church. 
That is the reason, why Catholics build churches : to 
offer therein the holy sacrifice of the New Law and to 
preserve therein Jesus in his real presence under the 
appearance of bread in the tabernacle for the adoration 
of him and for the reception of him in holy commu- 
nion by men. Thus Catholic churches are in reality 
the house of God. (P. 369.) 

V. Holy Orders. Jesus made the sacraments 
means of conferring grace and the merits of his re- 
demption to human souls. He did not remain with us 
to administer them himself, nor did he appoint angels 
for their administration. He appointed men. The 



HOLY ORDERS 343 

priesthood of the Old Law was hereditary : The 
priesthood of Jesus Christ in the New Law is trans- 
mitted to those, called to this high and holy state by 
God, through the medium of the sacrament of holy 
orders, which Christ instituted for that very purpose, 
and wherein lies the reason of the priest's power in his 
office. These powers are conferred without fail, just 
as the powers and graces of any of the other sacra- 
ments do their work without fail, if man places no 
obstacle in their way. The priest's powers are princi- 
pally those of i) preaching the gospel with authority, 

2) forgiving sin, 3) offering up the holy sacrifice of the 
Mass, 4) administering all the other sacraments, ex- 
cepting confirmation and holy orders, which belong to 
the bishop, 5) of blessing persons and things and 6) 
of praying for his people officially, in the name of the 
true Church of Christ. 

2. It is of the priest, Christ says : 1 ) "Who hears 
you, hears me ;" 2) "Who despises you, despises me ;" 

3) "Go, into the whole world, preach the gospel to 
every creature;" 4) "Baptize them;" 5) "Whose sins 
you shall forgive, they are forgiven;" 6) "Do this", 
change bread and wine into the true body and blood of 
Christ. 

3. 1) People honor a farmer. The priest is farmer, 
too : his field are the immortal souls of men ; he sows 
the word of God in them ; he gives them the "bread of 
life," Jesus himself, in the holy Eucharist ; his harvest 
crop is eternal life. 2) People honor the soldier: The 
priest is a soldier, too, and an officer in the army of 
Christ. He fights for immortal souls and conquers the 
devil, who must obey him and let a soul go free at his 
command in baptism and in the confessional. 3) Peo- 
ple honor a good doctor : The priest is a physician of 



344 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

a more exalted order; he is the physician of souls 
created according to God's own image ; he cures them, 
heals them in the confessional. 4) The priest is a dele- 
gate of God; he takes God's place on earth for us: 
"He, who hears you, hears me." There is no doubt 
about it ; there is nothing clearer in the Bible. 

4. Why do Catholic priests not marry? This is 
another bug-a-boo for non-Catholics ; yet, it is so sim- 
ple, as everything else in the Catholic Church. Celeb- 
acy is not a dogma; it is only a Church-law, enacted 
for very good reasons, founded, like everything else in 
the Catholic Church, on the Bible. Why is it ? 

1 ) Because the priest takes Christ's place on earth 
in reality in his office, and Jesus Christ was not mar- 
ried. Therefore, the Catholic priests do not marry. 

2) A single priesthood is necessary to endure the 
hardships of its office. Only unmarried, unencum- 
bered priests were able to carry the gospel of Christ 
into heathen countries and into all the world according 
to the command of Christ: "Go, ye, into the whole 
world ; preach the gospel to every creature." 

3) The Bible says : "A married man is divided be- 
tween the duties to his wife and those duties due to 
God." The priest being Christ's substitute must not 
be divided, but must give his whole time to God; and 
so he does. Therefore, the Catholic priests do not 
marry. 

4) The apostles best understood the will and the 
mind of Christ. They both taught and practiced celeb- 
acy. The priests are their lawfully ordained and ap- 
pointed successors in office. Therefore, they do not 
marry. 

OBJECTIONS SOLVED. 1. Some say: "Celeb- 
acy is impossible." Those, who maintain this, deny 
k 



WHY PRIESTS NOT MARRY 345 

the pure life of millions and judge all others by them- 
selves, which is not right. 

2. Others say: "It is unnatural." No; it is not 
unnatural ; but it is above the ordinary state of the life 
of those, who claim to be ministers of Christ, but are 
not. 

3. "There are frequent falls in consequence of celeb- 
acy." Not true. Statistics prove, that far fewer 
break the vow of celebacy, than the matrimonial vow. 
You can read every day of married clergy going wrong ; 
while of the 16,000 priests in the United States very 
few, if any, break their vow. Compare them with a 
city of 16,000 of all married people, and among these 
latter there will be thousands, who are not satisfied 
with their own wives and husbands. Prostitution 
would be well supported among them, while not a sin- 
gle one could be found among the 16,000 priests to pat- 
ronize any such institution. When a priest goes wrong, 
it is such a novelty and of such rare occurrence, that 
it is flashed from one end of the country to the other 
in strong headlines in the newspapers. Supposing, 
that one in every twelve went wrong, which evidently 
is not the case, it would be no worse, than it was at 
the time of Christ, for one of his twelve apostles went 
wrong, and it would prove nothing, excepting this, 
that the Catholic Church, the true Church of Christ, is 
not at all dependent upon a few individuals, but that 
the Holy Ghost guides her safely, proving to all the 
world, that she is divine. 

4. "The Church has no right to compel any one to 
remain single. " The Catholic Church does not compel 
any one to remain single. It is the young man's own 
free choice, not hastily made but made after twelve 
long years of preparation by arduous study and fervent 



346 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

prayer and frequent reception of the sacraments and 
serious consultation with God and men, and not before 
he is twenty-four years of age, and the most of them 
are older at ordination. The world itself honors and 
confides in the unmarried priest of the Catholic 
Church. Confession, one of the greatest institutions 
of Christ in his true Church, would fall to pieces with 
a married clergy. In time of epidemics, yellow-fever, 
cholera, the unmarried priests and sisters of charity 
remain at their posts of duty, while not seldom other 
ministers flee with their wives. That tests the genuine 
metal. 

VI. Matrimony. Holy orders propagate the holy 
priesthood for carrying on the work of saving souls 
among the children of men, who are produced lawfully 
in the holy state of matrimony. 

i. Marriage was made a holy union by God him- 
self in paradise between one man and one wife; he 
appointed for them the end and, object of that union: 
to help each other to "grow and multiply" in the knowl- 
edge, faith, hope and love of God, and thus to help 
each other to save their immortal souls,. instead of help- 
ing each other to sin, as they unfortunately did do; 
and to raise children, not merely for this world, not 
merely to perpetuate their name, to inherit their prop- 
erty, but for heaven and for God; to people heaven 
with immortal souls and to fill those vacant places in 
it, which had been lost by the rebellious angels. Con- 
sequently, married people who do not produce children, 
if they can, are looked upon with great suspicion of 
frustrating the objects of matrimony and of practicing 
abominations in the sight of God. It invariably looks 
bad, when married women not over middle age, go 
around with the circus, with opera troops, and are seen 



MARRIAGE 347 

on the lecture platform and are raising no children, or 
only one or two. There are some, who even claim they 
are practicing those abominations, in order that they 
may do works of charity, or of religion, or even to 
preach the gospel ! Woman's place is in the home. 
She is not called by God to preach the gospel. God 
will not accept her works of charity, or religion, if she 
commits immoralities in the married state, in order to 
be free to perform them, for the end does not justify 
the means. And all things in matrimonial matters, 
that frustrate the laws of nature, are immoralities ; and 
those, who practice them, are immoral. The God-de- 
signed work for married people to do for saving souls 
is to raise large families of children in the fear and 
love of God, as the Bible clearly points out. 

2. Men can degrade the holiest institutions. It is 
not otherwise with marriage. Our Lord Jesus Christ 
raised it out of the mire of sin, to which men had 
degraded it, and elevated it to the dignity of a sacra- 
ment by which he wills that the merits of his bitter 
suffering and death and precious sanctifying grace of 
God should flow to the immortal souls of husband and 
wife, so that they might live happily together and ful- 
fill the object of marriage, as explained in the preceding 
number. 

3. God, consequently, is the author of marriage. 
He has appointed its end and object. He has made its 
bond an indissoluble one, just as he has established the 
bond of religion between himself and man. (P. 158.) 
That bond of religion can never be dissolved, if men 
wish to be drawn to heaven by it. Just so little can the 
bond of marriage be dissolved, for the Bible says of it : 
"What God has joined together, let no man put asun- 
der." (Mt. 19, 6.) Jesus made no exception. The 



348 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

granting of divorces is a profanation of one of God's 
holy institutions, because God has reserved the right 
of severing the matrimonial bond to himself by death 
of either the husband or wife. He has not even given 
that power to his Church. 

4. Marriage is a holy sacrament, that can be re- 
ceived worthily only in the state of sanctifying grace, 
when the contracting parties are free from mortal 
sin, and validly only when in accordance with the laws 
of the Catholic Church laid down for its protection. 
Consequently, those sin, who receive it in the state of 
mortal sin or who marry without observing the laws of 
the Church. Consequently, 

5. Mixed marriages are to be avoided: 1) because 
one person cannot receive the sacrament of matrimony 
all alone, and, if one of them is not in the state of sanc- 
tifying grace, which is quite likely in every case of 
mixed marriage, they do not receive the grace of this 
sacrament, and how can they, then, assist each other 
in saving their immortal souls, when they do not serve 
God together in his Holy Church. ' 

6. Beware, of unholy alliances. They are not for a 
month or a year, but for life, and their effects are to 
last for eternity. The matrimonial state is a high and 
holy and dignified state of life. God wills it to be so ; 
but it is that only for those, who prepare for it, not by 
sinning, but by prayer, by the reception of the holy 
sacrament of penance and the Eucharist and by in- 
structions from their pastor and who enter upon it, 
not from unworthy motives, not from motives differ- 
ent, than those, designed for it by Almighty God in its 
institution and by Jesus Christ in its elevation to the 
dignity of a sacrament. For the sanctity and for the 
indissolubility of the marriage bond the Catholic 



MARRIAGE. EXTREME UNCTION 349 

Church has fought her hardest battles. The fact, that 
she has always opposed divorces and thus minutely 
upheld the Bible in all ages, in all places, under all cir- 
cumstances, is one of the strongest open proofs that 
she is the true Church of Christ. She is a good Church 
to belong to. She prescribes absolute fidelity to both 
husband and wife. She holds their duties up to them. 
She takes care of the safety of the family, of the home, 
and, consequently, of society and the country and the 
government. 

VII. Extreme Unction. 1. The devil tries all 
our lifetime to deprive us of sanctifying grace and thus 
to prevent us from obtaining and occupying that place 
in heaven, which he lost by his rebellion. He makes 
his last great desperate attempt for our destruction at 
the hour of death. Christ foresaw this. Therefore, 
he instituted the sacrament of Extreme Unction, which 
gives us grace to fight the last fight successfully and to 
die well in the grace and friendship of God. 

2. Extreme Unction is best administered, not in the 
last hour of death, but when we are seriously ill. It 
often restores with the health of the soul, also, the 
health of the body. It is the only sacrament, in which 
the prayers of the Church are directed as well for the 
health of the body as of the soul, and even for the tem- 
poral and spiritual welfare of those present at its ad- 
ministration. Hence, we should assist at it, whenever 
opportunity presents itself. The Priest, therefore, 
should be notified in good season, when any one is sick, 
so that there may be ample time for preparation. It 
is a great relief to the sick, to have his conscience in 
order. Experienced and unprejudiced physicians ac- 
knowledge this truth, and, consequently, are very glad 
to have the spiritual wants of the sick administered to. 



350 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

Only prejudiced, discourteous, bigotted physicians and 
other people, will deny, or oppose, the priest in admin- 
istering the last spiritual wants of the sick -and dying. 

3. Confession should precede Extreme Unction. 
But even if the sick is unconscious, always call the 
priest, for in that case Extreme Unction will forgive 
the sin, provided, the sick person is penitent. 

4. Extreme Unction takes away the remnants and 
evil affects and scars and little defilements and little 
debts of sin. Non-Catholics do well to ask the Catho- 
lic priest to visit their sick. Do not be backward in 
doing so. 

5. It is founded clearly upon the Bible: "If any 
one is sick among you, call in the priest of the Church. 
He will pray over the sick and anoint him with holy oil 
in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith shall 
save the sick man and the Lord shall raise him up, and 
if he be in sin, they shall be forgiven him. ,, (Jas. 5, 
14.) No language can be plainer in favor of anything 
than this is in favor of Extreme Unction. Nowhere can 
you find this command of the Bible fulfilled, except in 
the holy Catholic Church. Another great proof, that 
she is the only true Church of Christ. She is a good 
Church, the only Church, to belong to. As you have 
perceived from this book, which gives all the essential 
teachings and practices of the Catholic Church from 
the beginning to the end, she takes care of the soul of 
man from his entrance into the world, until he leaves it 
again, and even after death she does not abandon the 
soul, but follows it up by fervent prayer and the offer- 
ing up of the holy sacrifice of the Mass for its spiritual 
welfare, after it has taken its flight to the shores of 
eternity, in order that its eternity may be a happy one 
and that it may walk up the golden stairs and sing the 



EXTREME UNCTION. SACRAMENTALS 351 

songs of angels in the realms of eternal bliss for the 
never ending days of eternity. There is nothing vague, 
there is no loop-hole left for the devil to slip in and 
the soul to slip through with him into hell. There are 
no doubts about the meaning of any of her teachings, 
which are the teachings of Christ, and they are all so 
simple, that they can be fully represented by the card- 
deck, as has been done. There is nothing wanting, no 
defects, no guess-work about her divine service and 
administration of the sacraments. She has them for 
all the needs of all men, at all times, in all places, in 
all circumstances and without any distinction of race 
or color. Confide yourself to her. Do what she tells 
you, and you are on the right road to a happy eternity. 

CHAPTER III. 



DIVISION I. 

Sacramentals in General. 
In every card-game are cards of different value, 
power and denomination. Some are called small, oth- 
ers large. Some are called small only in comparison 
to the other larger ones. They are not called small, be- 
cause they are of little use, for they are of the utmost 
importance, and scarcely any game can be played well 
without them. They not only back up the big cards, 
but often prepare the way for them and draw them out, 
so that they can do their full work in the game. Thus 
those small cards are a type of the sacramentals in the 
Catholic Church. They are of less importance, than 
the sacraments, yet, of great importance ; for they as- 
sist the soul to become properly disposed, so that the 
sacraments can do their full work in it, and, after the 



daS CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

worthy reception of the sacraments, they follow up, 
back up, the sanctifying grace of the sacraments in the 
soul, so that they may produce the best results in the 
soul. 

1. What are sacramentals? The Bible says: 

i) — That, after Almighty God had created some- 
thing in each of the six. great creation periods, he saw, 
that it was good and, consequently, pleasing in his 
sight; 

2) — That on the seventh day he looked over all once 
more and he saw, that all was very good, and the Bible 
might have just as well have added "holy", for every- 
thing must have been holy, because it went forth from 
the hand of God and because everything was created 
for a holy purpose, that is, to glorify its Creator ; but 
that no one might doubt, that all was holy, God on the 
seventh day gave everything this higher, holier, dedica- 
tion by bestowing upon it his blessing (P. 37, 132.) ; 

3) — That Adam and Eve by their disobedience to 
God's law drew down upon the whole earth and every- 
thing in it the curse of sin, and all things thus became, 
to a considerable degree, serviceable to the devil to 
tempt men to sin. Hence, it was, that God said to 
Adam: "The earth shall be cursed in thy works." 
(I. Mos. 3, 17.); 

4) — That Jesus Christ gave all power to his apos- 
tles. He surely had power to bless and sanctify and to 
curb the power of the devil and to forbid him to use 
such blessed articles for evil. Consequently, he gave to 
the apostles and to their lawfully ordained successors, 
Popes, bishops and priests the power to bless and sanc- 
tify and to also transmit that power of blessing to 
others and that they did transmit it (Acts. 1, 26. ; 



SACRAMENTALS. SPOT-CARDS 353 

5) — That "everything is sanctified by the word of 
God and prayer" (I. Tim. 4, 5.) ; 

6) — That Christ did institute an infallible means, 
the holy sacrament of ordination, by which this power 
of blessing, sanctifying and consecrating and curbing 
the power of the devil is transmitted to the priest in 
the holy Catholic Church. 

When, now, the priest makes use of this power of 
blessing, sanctifying, consecrating things by prayer 
and the word of God,< he takes away from them that 
curse, which sin brought upon them, and places them 
into that same condition, where God had left them, 
after he had created them, and where they were before 
man had contaminated them by sin, and takes them out 
of the power of the devil, so that he cannot use them 
any more without man's consent, to tempt men to use 
them for ofifending God, and the things then so blessed 
and sanctified are called sacramentals, because they are 
thus separated from other common things of their kind 
and set aside for religious and divine purposes and are 
made means and instruments of obtaining grace. Con- 
sequently, sacramentals are, like everything else in the 
Catholic Church, founded on the Bible. They are ex- 
ternal things, which include and help us to obtain in- 
ternal gifts, divine grace and spiritual benefits. 

2. Different kinds of sacramentals: 

1) — Some things are blessed and set aside perma- 
nently for and used only at divine worship or at the 
administration of the sacraments, for instance, chal- 
ices, altars, priest's vestments, holy oils for ordination, 
baptism and extreme unction. This is all founded on 
the Bible, because God gave such prescriptions for the 
blessing of such things in the Old Testament, and 



354 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

Jesus made use of blessings in the New Law, for he 
blessed children and bread. 

2) — Other things are blessed by the priest at and 
outside of public divine worship for divine worship, 
but which may be made use of privately in a religious 
manner at times and in places and in works other than 
at public divine worship and at the administration of 
the sacraments. Such are holy water, palms, cruci- 
fixes, rosaries, medals, etc. These, too, retain their 
blessings permanently; 

3) — Other blessings are transient; for instance, 
when the blessings themselves are the sacramentals, as 
for instance, when a priest blesses bread, food, animals, 
vehicles, fields, or a private house; such a house does 
not then become consecrated like a church, but the 
prayer of blessing asks God to specially protect in both 
body and soul against the attacks of satan those, who 
dwell in it and while they dwell in it. Transient bless- 
ings, consequently, are those, in which the thing or 
person is not specially set aside for religious purposes, 
but in which the affects of the blessing is to remain. 
In this sense a priest may bless any person or thing. If 
a father blesses his children, it is no sacramental, be- 
cause that is not the official blessing of the Church ; but 
on the priest a special power for doing so officially, in 
the name of the Church of Christ, has been conferred 
in the holy sacrament of ordination. 

3. They are called sacramentals, because they are 
similar to the sacraments, although essentially differ- 
ent. Their similarity appears from these considera- 
tions : 

1) — The sacraments are external signs or actions 
(P. 327) : so are sacramentals; for instance, the strew- 



SACRAMENTALS. SPOT-CARDS 355 

ing of blessed ashes on the forehead on Ash Wednes- 
day is, like baptism, an external sign and action. 

2) — The sacraments are for the purpose of confer- 
ring grace: so do the sacramentals help us to obtain 
grace. 

3) — The sacraments are instituted by Christ: the 
sacramentals are instituted, not by private individuals, 
but by the Catholic Church, the Church of Christ and, 
consequently, though only indirectly, are instituted by 
Christ himself, but only in so far, as Christ has insti- 
tuted the Catholic Church and given her full power, 
the power of the keys to the treasury of the merits of 
Christ's redemption; 

4) — They, like the sacraments, are not dependent 
for their efficacy on the piety, virtues, or private con- 
duct of the priest. 

4. Though similar to the sacraments in the three 
essentials of the sacraments, the sacramentals are also 
dissimilar, to the sacraments in the same three essen- 
tials, for: 

1) — The visible or outward sign or action instituted 
by Christ is absolutely necessary for the validity in the 
administration of the sacraments and cannot be 
changed, as, for instance, the washing with natural 
water in baptism, the use of wheat bread for the holy 
Eucharist : in the sacramentals the visible sign or action 
used by the Church is not absolutely necessary and can 
be changed by the Church, as, for instance, the Church 
can bless dust of earth instead of wood or palm ashes 
and can change also the form of prayer of blessing 
them. 

2) — The sacraments have their power to produce 
their intended effects in the soul from the institution 
of Jesus Christ and they confer grace by the same 



356 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

power which Christ has attached to those signs and 
actions and words appointed, coupled with the proper 
intention in the one receiving them and the requisite 
intention, power and authority in the one performing 
them with the prescribed formulas. The sacramentals 
have their power of helping us to obtain grace a) from 
the official prayers of. the Church performed by the 
priest in his official capacity as the representative of 
Christ in his Church. "Ask and you shall receive", said 
Christ, although he did not say just in what words we 
are to ask. This he left to the Church to prescribe ; b) 
from the disposition of those, for whom they are in- 
tended, or by whom they are used. On account of this 
second, b), requisite in the recipient, we do not always 
know, whether the desired effect is produced in the 
soul, nor is it necessary to know. 

3) — The sacraments are intended to confer super- 
natural grace and especially sanctifying grace and are 
not intended to produce (though they may) any notice- 
able effect on the body, except the sacrament of ex- 
treme unction, which is also, though only indirectly, 
for the welfare of the body : sacramentals never confer 
by themselves sanctifying grace ; yet, they may be in- 
strumental in disposing us to avail ourselves of the 
means, namely, of perfect act of contrition, or of sac- 
raments, to obtain sanctifying grace; but they are for 
the purpose of obtaining for us many graces and bene- 
fits for the soul and, also, many blessings for the body, 
health, fields, crops, success in business, in our occupa- 
tions and avocations of life and they are a powerful 
protection for both body and soul and, therefore, are 
surpassed in importance only by the sacraments. 

4) — The sacraments, at least, some of them, confer 
graces, absolutely necessary for salvation : sacramen- 



SACEAMENTALS. SPOT-CARDS 357 

tals help us to obtain precious graces, but not such 
graces, without which we cannot be saved, which, how- 
ever, may not be despised, for the smallest spark of 
divine grace is of greater real value, than all the goods 
of this world. 

5. Whence have the prayers and blessings of the 
Catholic Church officially performed by the priest 
their special, greater power, than private individual 
prayer? That is, because the official prayers of the 
Church are always united to the prayers of Christ and 
his saints. The Catholic Church is Christ's only insti- 
tution. She was founded, organized and equipped by 
him for that express purpose of carrying on until 
the end of time the work of saving souls, which he him- 
self had begun, by preaching the gospel wholly and 
purely, by offering up the holy sacrifice of the Mass, 
by forgiving sin and administering all the other sacra- 
ments just so, as he had instituted them, and by asking 
the Father in his name for all things necessary for 
body and soul, for all of which he left her his special 
power. She is, consequently, his much beloved, offi- 
cial institution, through which he dispenses his gifts 
and graces officially. Hence, it readily appears, that 
her official prayers and blessings are more efficacious 
at the throne of God, than private prayers are apt to 
be; for Jesus, as the great Mediator, joins his own 
prayers, and the intercession of all the angels and 
saints are united with the prayers of his holy Church ; 
for he is her head and all the saints are her faithful 
children. Consequently, no one can doubt, but that, 
when such a grand chorus of official, saintly and divine 
prayers are asking God's special blessing upon certain 
persons or objects, thus producing sacramentals, great 
and special graces and special divine protection are 



358 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

attached to them and are obtained through them, to 
which they surely will help us, provided, we make our- 
selves worthy of them, and provided, they are for our 
best, and provided, it is God's will. Hence appears our 
duty to use them in the true spirit of the Church, as 
real helps, as precious aids for everything good, holy 
and true. It would be sinful to lead a wreckless, irre- 
ligious life just because one is carrying a blessed medal, 
or rosary or wearing the scapular, imagining such 
thing by its own power, would insure safety from all 
injury and assurance of salvation in the end. That 
would be superstition and would be contrary to the 
teaching of the Church concerning sacramentals. Con- 
sequently, sacramentals should not be over-estimated, 
nor under-estimated, but used as holy and wholesome 
means of grace and divine protection with our co- 
operation. 

DIVISION II. 

Some of the Most Prominent and Useful Sacra- 
mentals : 

1. Holy water, is natural water blessed by the priest 
by the word of God and the official prayer of the 
Church. At its blessing a little blessed salt is mixed 
with it. Why ? 

i) The prophet Eliseus did that very thing (IV. 
Kgs. 2, 19.), and God ordered people to sprinkle them- 
selves with sanctified water and be made clean. (Num. 
19, 17.) Thus it is, like all other practices in the Cath- 
olic Church, founded on the Bible. The apostle Saint 
Matthew blessed water and with it restored a dead per- 
son to life. Thus it is undoubtingly of apostolic origin. 

2) Holy water reminds us a) of the blood of 
Christ, by the divine power of which we are cleansed 



C SACRAMENTALS 359 

from sin in the holy sacrament of baptism and after 
baptism by the holy sacrament of penance; b) that by 
true contrition and confession we should cleanse our- 
selves from sin and by a pure life remain free from it. 

c) That is the reason, why good christians make fre- 
quent, pious use of holy water, when blessing them- 
selves with the sign of the cross both in the church and 
in the home, especially on arising in the morning and 
upon retiring at night and during heavy, dangerous 
storms and in other dangerous, trials, temptations and 
tribulations. The devil is proverbially afraid of holy 
water. Good parents sprinkle their little children with 
it morning and evening; it is even sprinkled upon the 
coffin and grave of our beloved dead with the prayer, 
that God for the sake of the precious blood of Christ 
may grant their souls eternal rest and perpetual light. 

d) When piously used with true faith, hope and charity 
and confidence in the official prayer of the priest and 
with sorrow for sin, it may remit venial sin and obtain 
many graces for us. e) The distribution, sprinkling of 
holy water, called "Asperges" (IV. Kgs. 2, 21.), imme- 
diately before the high Mass on Sundays in the church 
is a public invitation to prayer and a solemn warning 
to leave all worldly thoughts outside, as Christ drove 
all worldly business out of the temple, and it is an ex- 
pulsion of the evil spirits, who are afraid of holy water 
and who seek at all times and more so at public divine 
worship to distract people in their prayers. Thus, it is 
all founded on the Bible and has the most beautiful 
significations and is a means of grace and sanctification 
and, consequently, ridiculed only by the ignorant, irre- 
ligious and godless. 

2. Ashes are mentioned 29 times in the Bible as 
a sign 1) of human frailty, 2) of humiliation, into 



360 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

which sin has brought us, 3) of death, the universal 
punishment for sin, and 4) of penance for sin. That 
is the reason, why the priest blesses ashes, usually pro- 
duced by burning the blessed palms left over from the 
preceding Palm Sunday, and on Ash Wednesday, the 
beginning of Lent, the beginning of a special time of 
penance, imposes them on the forehead of himself and 
others in the form of the cross, saying at the same time 
the solemn words, which came from God's own lips on 
account of the sin of man in paradise: "Remember, 
O, man, that dust thou art and unto dust thou shalt 
return." '(I. Mos. 3, 19.) They are, also, the last 
words spoken by the priest over the grave of the dead. 
Consequently, the use of ashes is, also, founded on the 
Bible. They can be received also non-Catholics. 

3. Palms are blessed and distributed among the 
people in the church on Palm Sunday in commemora- 
tion of Christ's triumphal entrance into Jerusalem, 
when the people strewed palm-branches on his way. 
(Jo. 12, 13.) Palm are a symbol of victory. They 
here signify, that Jesus by his suffering and death has 
triumphed over the devil, and that we ourselves can do 
so only in consequence of the merits of Christ's re- 
demption and of our penitent co-operation with those 
merits. Consequently, this sacramental, too, is founded 
on the Bible and ought to be treated with reverence 
and respect. Non-Catholics may receive them. 

4. Beeswax candles are blessed on February 2 
in commemoration of the Presentation of the Child 
Jesus in the temple, when Simeon called him "a light 
for the revelation of the gentiles". (Lu. 2, 32.) Can- 
dles are mentioned seventeen times in the Bible as a 
symbol of divine revelation, light from God and intel- 
lectual light and guidance and as a sign of joy. Why 



CANDLES 361 

beeswax candles ? There is nothing by chance, nothing 
without very good, high and holy reasons in the Catho- 
lic Church. Everything has a high signification. 

i ) The best is none too good for God. Wax is the 
purest product of the animal kingdom. It is produced 
by the virginal bee only. The virginal bee is a type of 
the Blessed Virgin Mary. How? a) The virginal bee 
lets no dust into her work : thus there was no stain of 
sin in Mary (P. 197) ; b) wax gives light: the Blessed 
Virgin Mary, as Mother of Jesus, gave the true light 
to the world ; for her divine Son enlightens the minds 
of men and inflames their will, to see the road and to 
walk on it to eternal light; c) the virginal bee does not 
produce any other fruit ; neither did Mary have any 
other children. 

2) Wax, also, signifies the pure body of Christ. 
How? Wax is consumed in giving light: so was the 
body of Christ consumed by his burning love for God 
and man. 

3) The wick in the candle signifies the soul of 
Christ. How? The wick is the medium that joins the 
wax and light : just so is Christ's human soul the medi- 
um that joins two natures, the human and divine in 
Christ in one, the divine, person. The upward going 
flame signifies the divinity of Christ, which by love 
draws all to himself. Simeon took the real light of the 
world into his hands : we take the symbol of light into 
our hands and we ought to be children of light to oth- 
ers both in and out of the Church. 

4) The w r ax candle signifies faith, hope and char- 
ity, the three divine virtues, as they have been amply 
explained in this book: a) The light of the candle rep- 
resents faith, divine revelation, the great truths, which 
God has taught and continues to teach through his holy 



362 



CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 



Catholic Church; b) the ever upward striving flame 
represents hope; c) the heat from the flame represents 
charity of God and charity to ourselves and to our 
f ellowmen. 

5) The wax candle is, also, a symbol of the most 
holy Trinity: a) the wax signifies God the Father, who 
has life in and from himself from all eternity ; b) the 
wick signifies God, the Son, who proceeds from the 
Father from all eternity; 
c) the flame signifies God, 
the Holy Ghost, who pro- 
ceeds from the Father and 
the Son from all eternity, 
as the flame proceeds from 
the wax and the wick. 
There are eight beautiful 
symbolical meanings to 
wax candles, represented 
to us by the eight of dia- 
monds in the card-deck. 
Thus you perceive the 
beautiful significations of 
everything in and about 
the Catholic divine wor- 
ship and practices, and 
all are founded on the Bible. 

5. The bishop's and priest's blessing, which fer- 
vent Catholics frequently kneel down to get, as from 
the official representatives of Christ, is another beau- 
tiful sacramental in the Catholic Church. 

6. The devout blessing of ourselves with the 
sign of the cross itself is a sacramental. It is always 
at hand and most efficacious for all purposes. (P. 155.) 




priest's blessing 363 

7. There is a special priest's blessing for chil- 
dren and for the sick, which should be eagerly- 
sought, as many at the time of Christ brought the sick 
and children to him to be blessed. 

8. The fourteen stations of the cross, properly 
blessed and erected in our churches, represent the prin- 
cipal stations, places and circumstances of suffering of 
our dear Lord. They are a most precious sacramental. 
The devotion of making the way of the cross is a most 
powerful means of obtaining graces and of being ex- 
cited to true contrition for sin and of obtaining for- 
giveness of venial sin and of forming the best kind of 
resolution for a good, pious, holy life. 

9. Blessed pictures, crucifixes, statues, medals, 
as being representations of Jesus and the saints, are all 
sacramentals and are calculated to inspire devotion, 
sorrow for sin and a desire for a sinless life. 

10. Blessed incense is used at public divine wor- 
ship only, never privately. It is a symbol of the true 
prayer of a christian and of sacrifice pleasing to God ; 
for, as incense cannot rise on high, unless there is fire 
below it, thus the prayer of a christian cannot rise to 
the throne of God, unless there be the fire of true faith, 
hope and charity and devotion in the heart of man. In 
various religious significations incense is mentioned 44 
times in the Bible. It is, consequently, all founded on 
the Bible. 

11. The brown scapular of the Blessed Virgin 
Mary is a miniature dress of the Blessed Virgin 
Mary, worn over the shoulders, as the name, indicates, 
in her honor, just as people wear hair- watch-chains, 
photographs, etc., to honor some loved one. It has 
proven itself a most powerful protection against temp- 
tation, evil influence, loss of faith and unhappy death 



364 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

and a very effectual means of obtaining many graces 
through the intercession of her, who is honored there- 
by and who is so near to her divine Son to ask them 
for us. Nothing superstitious about it. It only needs 
to be understood, to be appreciated. 

12. The churching of new mothers is done in imi- 
tation of the Blessed Virgin Mary who brought her 
divine Child Jesus into the temple, had the priest there 
pray over her and her child, and when she offered up 
prayers and a sacrifice for herself. It is a prayer of 
the priest, that God may protect her and her child, and 
that she may bring up the child in the fear and love of 
God, that it may so live, that it will obtain the end of 
its creation, eternal happiness. Consequently, it is all 
founded on the Bible and should not be neglected. 

13. The rosary is often looked upon as super- 
stitious by non-Catholics, who do not understand it. 
Far from it. There is no grander form of prayer. It 
is all taken from the Bible from beginning to end. It 
begins with the sign of the cross in the words of 
Christ "in the name of the Father and of Son and of 
the holy Ghost/' Then follows the apostle's Creed, 
which contains the whole Bible in a nutshell, as has 
been amply shown in this book. Then is recited the 
Lord's prayer and the Hail Mary. The Hail Mary is 
repeated ten times during the contemplation of each 
mystery, 150 times in the full rosary, corresponding to 
the 150 psalms of David. At the end of each group of 
ten Hail Marys the doxology : "Glory be to the Father 
and to the Son and to the holy Ghost, as it was in the 
beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. 
Amen." Amen is added, whereby all the honor shown 
to the Blessed Virgin Mary is bunched together and 
offered to God thus practising the teaching of the 



ROSARY A BIBLE. SPOT-CARDS. 365 

Catholic Church, that all honor shown to the saints, 
must be ultimately referred to God, and that all answer 
to our prayers through the intercession of the saints 
must come from Almighty God himself. By daily re- 
citing the full rosary, and occasionally an extra one 
for sacramental penajice, we would ask the Mother of 
God in one year about 59,488 times, once for each of 
the possible combinations of cards in the card-deck 
(P. 34), to pray for us at the hour of our death. In a 
lifetime of only twenty years, the same prayer would 
arise to her 1,100,000 times. No one can doubt, but 
that the Mother of mercy is most powerful by her in- 
tercession with her divine Son and will obtain for us 
the inestimable grace of a happy death. Better say the 
rosary ! You will never regret it at the hour of death. 
After the first Our Father in the rosary three Hail 
Marys are recited to which are joined acts of faith, 
hope and charity, which again takes in the whole Bible 
in practical form. Next in the rosary are presented for 
pious contemplation the greatest mysteries of our holy 
religion, 15 in number, in three groups : 

I. The five joyful mysteries: 

1) Annunciation, celebrated on March 25, in which 
we meditate upon the fact that the archangel Gabriel 
announced to the Blessed Virgin Mary, that she was to 
become the Mother of God. (Lu. 1, 26.) 

2) The visitation, celebrated on July 2, the fact 
that the Blessed Virgin Mary bore her divine Son in 
her holy womb to her cousin Elizabeth. (Lu. 1, 39.) 

3) The birth of Jesus, celebrated on December 25, 
Christmas Day (Lu. 2, 4.). 

4) The presentation of the child Jesus in the tem- 
ple, celebrated on February 2, (Lu. 2, 22.). 



366 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

5) The finding of the Child Jesus in the temple, 
after he had stayed there unknown to his parents (Lu. 
2, 42.). 

II. The five sorrowful mysteries are : 

i) The agony of Jesus in the garden of Gethsem- 
ani, the fact, that Jesus sweat blood for us. (Mt. 26, 
36-50.) 

2) The fact that Jesus was scourged for our sins 
at the pillar. (Mt. 27, 15-26.) 

3) His cruel crowning with thorns. (Jo. 19, 2-16.) 

4) Jesus carried his heavy cross up to Mount Cal- 
vary. (Lu. 23, 22-32.) 

5) Jesus was crucified on the cross. (Lu. 23, 
33-43-) 

III. The five glorious mysteries are : 

1) The resurrection of Christ from the grave on 
easter morning. (Mt. 28, 1-17.) 

2) The ascension of Christ into heaven, forty days 
after easter. (Acts 1, 1-11.) 

3) The coming down of the holy Ghost upon the 
apostles on pentecost. (Acts 2, 1-11.) 

4) The assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in- 
to heaven (I. Cor. 15, 20-58.). 

5) The crowning of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 
heaven, as Mother of God and queen of angels and 
saints (Apoc. 7, 1-12.). 

Thus the entire rosary is not only taken from the 
Bible, but the entire Bible can be explained from the 
rosary, as it has been explained in this book by the 
symbol of cards. 

The rosary thus becomes a spiritual wreath of roses, 
as the name, "rosary", indicates. A wreath of roses 
has principally three things : 1) green leaves, which in 



ROSARY A BIBLE. SPOT-CARDS. 367 

the rosary prayer are represented by the five joyful 
mysteries; 2) thorns, which in the rosary are repre- 
sented by the sorrowful mysteries; 3) roses in bloom, 
which in the rosary are represented by the glorious 
mysteries. When all are entwined with true faith, 
hope and charity, they make a beautiful, spiritual 
wreath of roses for the Queen of Heaven, which she 
surely will not leave unrewarded by her intercession in 
our behalf before the throne of God. 

14, Benediction with the Most Holy Sacrament 
of the Altar, which is performed only at solemn public 
divine worship in the church. The priest places the 
consecrated host, being Jesus Christ in the most holy 
Eucharist wholly and entire as true God and true man, 
in the sacred monstrance and offers up blessed incense, 
while the choir sings appropriate hymns of praise and 
adoration, embodying the true doctrine of the Catholic 
Church concerning this mystery of the most holy 
Eucharist as founded clearly upon the Bible, and he 
then makes a sign of the cross over the faithful, kneel- 
ing in prayer, with the sacred host in the monstrance 
solemnly at the same time bestowing the benediction 
upon them in the words taught us by Jesus Christ him- 
self, saying: "May the blessing of God the Father and 
of the Son and of the Holy Ghost descend upon you 
and remain forever." Who can doubt the conferring 
of precious graces by such a sacramental? And it is 
all founded on the Bible. 

15. Church dedications. The reasons why Cath- 
olics build churches have been amply explained (P. 
291, 321). Church blessing, church dedication, is usu- 
ally performed by the bishop, surrounded by a number 
of priests. The entire building and everything in it is 
thereby blessed and solemnly declared to be God's own 



368 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

property. That is the reason, why it is a sacrilege to 
misuse, or wantonly to destroy, or to steal any thing 
of it. The Catholic churches are blessed, dedicated, 
consecrated, not as mere meeting houses, not as mere 
preaching places, not as mere prayer houses, but as 
God's own true dwelling place in the tabernacle in his 
Real Presence under the appearance of bread in the 
Most Holy Eucharist. That is the reason, why all un- 
necessary talking, whispering, especially loud talking, 
is forbidden in them. That is, also, the reason, why 
they are never used for any worldly, social, entertain- 
ment purposes. They are always houses of God, not 
only during public divine worship, but at all times. 

The Catholic church-building thus becomes a sacred 
miniature world of God's creation, before it was con- 
taminated by the sins of men: God's power is the 
foundation of the world and of the Catholic Church ; 
the four corners of the building represent the four 
directions of heaven : the North, South, East and West. 
The altar-steps represent the mountains; the flowers 
and decorations of the altar represent the trees all over 
the earth ; the singing choirs represent the birds, warb- 
ling their sweet, innocent songs to their Maker; the 
church bells represent the thunder-calls of God im- 
planted into nature ; the candles burning on the altar at 
divine worship represent the stars of % the firmament ; 
the sanctuary lamp represents the moon; the incense 
the clouds. (P. 343.) 

Oh, behold the glory and the grandeur of the Catho- 
lic Church in all her teaching, in all her divine worship, 
in all her practices ! There is nothing like her on earth. 
If you want to belong to something really grand, leave 
little, insignificant societies, which cannot help you to 
eternal happiness, and join the Catholic Church. She 



CHURCH DEDICATION. SPOT-CARDS 369 

numbers 300,000,000. She speaks all the languages of 
men. She is flourishing all over the world. She is 
from Jesus Christ himself. She is guided infallibly by 
the holy Spirit. She teaches and practices the whole 
Bible and all of the ten commandments. She adminis- 
ters all of the seven sacraments. She helps all men in 
all the varied walks of life. She makes use of many 
beautiful sacramentals, as helps of grace and for a 
good life. She is for all times, for all places, for all 
classes, for all races, for all cofors, and all is so simple, 
that all can be explained by the cards of a playing card- 
deck, 



PART SIX. 

CHAPTER I. 



Division I. Vestments. 

i. In the Old Law God through Moses set the 
priest aside from the people i) in his place of habi- 
tation: the tribe of Levi, the priesthood tribe, had its 
own city, built by the other eleven tribes; 2) by his 
mode of livelihood : the eleven tribes had to annually 
pay tithes of everything to the priesthood tribe; 3) by 
his superior education; 4) by his office, as mediator 
between God and man; 5) by his dress. 

2. The priests of the Old Law were mere prefig- 
ures of the priests of the New Law. The priesthood 
of the New Law is the reality of the foreshadows of 
the Old Law. It is segregated from the people 1) by 
celebate place of habitation; 2) by his means of sub- 
sistence : he is not expected, nor required to live by the 
labor of his hands, nor from the profits of mercantile 
pursuits, but from the just remunerations of his sacred 
office ; 3) by his superior education ; the Catholic priest- 
hood is more highly educated, than any of the learned 
professions, wherefore, the Bible says : "The priest's 
lips shall keep knowledge" (Mai. 2, 7.); 4) by his 
ordination, participating by it in the office of the priest- 
hood of Christ and, consequently, being made a media- 
tor between God and man; 5) by the garb, which he 
wears at sacerdotal functions, usually called vestments. 

3. The vestments are typified in the card-deck 



VESTMENTS. PICTURE-CARDS. 371 

by the picture-cards which have each their own pecu- 
liar and appropriate interpretations. 

4. Bigotted people think them foolish, meaningless, 
unnatural, mystifying, superstitious. Not so. Noth- 
ing is more becoming and more natural. They, like 
every sign, ceremony, sacramental in the Catholic 
Church, have their higher, holier, symbolical signifi- 
cation and all tend to increase our devotion, enliven 
our faith, confirm our hope, inflame our charity, ex- 
plain the effects of the sacred mysteries in the soul of 
man, inspire us with reverence and respect for them 
and for those, who wear them, and, consequently, are 
an assistance to obtain God's grace, the one great pre- 
cious thing, that we need all the time, of which we can- 
not get too much, which is easily lost and sometimes 
difficult to regain. 

5. 1) The soldier wears a uniform: the priest is a 
soldier, serving under the banner of the cross of Christ. 
2) The officer wears a uniform : the priest is an officer 
in the army of Christ, fighting the devil and sin and the 
agents of sin. Nothing is more natural. God himself 
considered it worth while in the Old Testament to pre- 
scribe sacerdotal garbs. Consequently, they are in per- 
fect harmony with the Bible, and this again shows, 
how minutely the Catholic Church observes the Bible. 

Division 2. 

i. The priest always wears black. When away 
from home he is easily recognized by the Roman collar, 
which some preachers are usurping, against which 
there would be little objection, if they would only be 
logical and adopt all other doctrines and practices of 
the One Holy Catholic Apostolic Church. 

2. In the home the priest may wear the cassock, 
a long, black robe, whence the Indians call him Black- 



372 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

robe. The bishop wears a purple cassock ; the cardinal 
scarlet and the Pope white. Religious orders all have 
their own distinctive garb. 

3. At the holy sacrifice of the Mass the priest truly 
represents Christ offering up himself in sacrifice on 
the cross on Mount Calvary, of which sacrifice the holy 
Mass is the identical sacrifice. That is the reason, why 
everything, which the priest wears at it, reminds us of 
something, which Christ wore at that time, when he 
offered himself up in sacrifice on Mount Calvary. That 
is one reason, too, why the priest has his back turned 
toward the people at the holy sacrifice of the Mass, be- 
cause Christ had his back turned toward the people, 
when going to Calvary. He led the way. They fol- 
lowed him. 

The sacerdotal vestments are principally thirteen, 
represented in the card-deck by the thirteen cards 
of each suit. 

What does the Bible say about them? 

Division 3. 

1. Amice. The Jews blindfolded our Blessed 
Lord, before they led him to king Herod (Lu. 22, 64.). 
The cloth, which the priest first puts on over his head 
then moves it down over his shoulders, the amice, re- 
minds us of that blindfolding cloth of Christ. The 
symbolical, the higher, spiritual meaning of it is ; that 
in consequence of the sacrifice of Christ on the cross 
you should be blind to the false examples of the world 
and here at holy Mass blind to all distractions and 
occupy your mind only with God and with what is 
transpiring on the altar of God. 

2. Alb. King Herod put on Jesus a white gar- 
ment of mockery. The alb, the long, white garment 



VESTMENTS. PICTURE-CARDS 373 

represents it. The symbolical meaning of it is : it rep- 
resents the white robe of innocence, with which your 
soul was clothed in baptism and with which you are 
re-clothed in penance, if you stained it by sin after 
baptism or after a previous confession, and with which 
your soul should be adorned, when you receive Christ 
himself in holy communion. It is the second vestment, 
which the priest puts on, w T hen vesting for Mass. 

3. Cincture. Jesus was tied to a pillar and 
scourged. The ropes, with which he was tied to the 
pillar are represented by the cincture, cord, tied around 
the priest's waist over the alb. Its symbolical mean- 
ing is : that we should gird, curb, control our passions 
in consequence of those particular sufferings of Christ, 
endured at his scourging. 

4. Tassels. At the ends of the cincture are 
tassels. They represent the scourges with which the 
executioners inflicted such cruel torments on Jesus. 
Their symbolical meaning is: that man should do pen- 
ance for his sins, for instance, by fasting and abstin- 
ence. 

5. Maniple. It is a small piece of cloth of the 
same color as the large .vestment. It is hung on the 
left arm of the priest. It represents the cords, by 
which the Jews tied Christ, when they led him up to 
Mount Calvary. Its symbolical meaning is: i) the 
weight of sin, which Christ bore; 2) we should seek 
to unload our sin in the holy sacrament of penance 
and 3) load ourselves with good works in place of sin. 
It also signifies the handkerchief with which Veronica 
wiped the face of Jesus. 

6. Stole. It is a small piece of cloth, similar 
to the maniple, only longer, and is hung around the 
priest's neck and is crossed on his breast and is fas- 



374 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

tened by the ends of the hanging-down cincture, to re- 
main so fastened. It represents the cords, with which 
the executioners dragged Jesus to the place of execu- 
tion. Its symbolical meaning is : i ) it represents the 
obedience of Christ to the will of his heavenly Father. 
It is put on like a yoke and thus reminds us of Christ's 
counsel: "Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, 
for I am meek and humble of heart ;" 2) the stole is 
the emblem of the priest's power, dignity and author- 
ity. Hence, it is, that, if he wears no other vestment 
in the performance of his sacerdotal functions, as, for 
instance, in hearing confessions and in administering 
the sacraments to the sick, he will wear the stole; 3) it 
should always remind us of the honor and respect due 
to the priest. 

7. Chasuble is the large piece of vestment, 
worn over the shoulders, hanging down both in front 
and on the back. It has a large cross woven in the 
back. It represents the cross of Christ itself, which 
Christ carried and on which he was crucified. Its sym- 
bolical meaning is : we must bear patfently our crosses, 
sufferings, miseries, pains, sicknesses, privations, death 
itself with resignation to the will of God. It means 
the fulfilment of the motto : "Through cross to crown" 
of eternal glory. 

8. Veil is the cloth-covering over the chalice. 
It corresponds in color to the large vestment. It rep- 
resents the cloths, with which Christ's body was 
wrapped, when laid in the grave. Its symbolical mean- 
ing is : we should be so wrapped up in the love of 
Christ, that wt strictly adhere to all his teachings, as 
taught in his holy Catholic Church. The larger veil, 
which the priest puts over his shoulders at benediction 
has the same meaning. 



VESTMENTS. PICTURE-CARDS 375 

9. Burse, in which is carried the corporal, the 
small altar cloth, on which the chalice rests over the 
altarstone on the altar, represents the stone, with 
which Christ's grave was covered. Its symbolical 
meaning is : we should enclose all our devotions in the 
sacred heart of Jesus, to be presented by it to the 
throne of mercy. 

10. Pall is a small square covering for the 
chalice. It represents the cloth, with which the Blessed 
Virgin Mary covered the nakedness of Christ, after he 
was taken down from the cross. Its symbolical mean- 
ing is : we should cultivate modesty. 

11. Corporal is a small cloth of the size and 
shape of a napkin, spread out over the altar stone on 
which rests the sacred body of Christ after the bread 
has been changed into it in the holy Mass. It repre- 
sents the cloths, with which the body of Jesus was cov- 
ered, before it was laid in the grave. 

12. Cope is a large, full, cloak-like, flowing 
vestment, which the priest wears at the ceremony of 
benediction with the most holy sacrament and at some 
other functions. It envelopes the priest's whole body. 
It represents the love of Christ with which he wishes 
to embrace all men without any distinction of race or 
color or condition, and in which the priest, as Christ's 
true representative, wishes to imitate his divine Mas- 
ter. That is the reason, too, why the Catholic priest 
makes no distinction as to learning, position, language, 
nationality, race or color in his administrations of 
religion. 

13. Surplice is the white garment which the 
priest wears, when he preaches, baptizes, etc. It rep- 
resents the innocence, the whiteness, the stainlessness 
from mortal sin, with which the souls should be 



376 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

adorned, before they can worthily receive Christ's 
most sacred body and blood in holy communion and 
with which their souls must be adorned, before they 
can enter heaven. 

Division 3. 
Color of Vestments. 

In most card-decks the dress of the picture cards 
has various combinations of five colors: white, red, 
black, violet and green. Thus they can be taken as 
types of the five colors of the vestments, which the 
priest wears at different times and at different func- 
tions. 

1. White is the Bible color of joy, of glory, of 
purity, of fidelity to God in faith, hope and charity, of 
obedience to God's law and of holiness. Hence, white 
vestments are worn on feast days of our Lord, of his 
most holy Mother, of angels and those saints, who were 
not martyrs for their faith. It teaches us imitation. 

2. Red is the color of martyrdom, the shedding 
of blood. Hence, it is used on feast days of apostles 
and martyrs, who laid down their lives for Christ. It 
teaches us patience in suffering and that, no matter, 
how great they are, they are not as great, as those of 
Christ and of his martyred saints. 

3; Black is the color of mourning. Hence, it is 
used on Good Friday and in the Mass offered up for 
the dead, for the Bible says, that "it is a holy and a 
wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may 
be loosed from their sins." 

4. Violet is the color of penance. Hence, it is 
used on Sundays of Advent and Lent, the penitential 
time in the Catholic Church. It is a forcible reminder 
of Christ's admonition : "Unless you do penance, you 
shall all perish. " 



CEREMONIES OF THE MASS 377 

5. Green is used on the Sundays after Pentecost 
to Advent, when no feast is celebrated. It denotes 
hope and should fill us with the true hope of heaven 
in the merits of Christ according to all the teachings 
of the Catholic Church. Thus you perceive the beauti- 
ful meanings of the vestments, which, like everything 
else in the Catholic Church, tend to lift our minds and 
hearts away from this sinful world up to God and to 
our eternal home. And all is founded on the Bible. 

CHAPTER II. 



Ceremonies of the Mass. 

As all the cards in the card-deck have a symbolical 
meaning so have all the ceremonies, especially those of 
the holy sacrifice of the Mass. In all the prayer books 
and instructions the people are admonished to in spirit 
follow the priest in the prayers and in the ceremonies 
of the Mass. 

i ^ The priest, vested in the robes explained in the 
preceding chapter, begins the Mass by blessing himself 
with the sign of the cross at the foot of the altar. Why 
at the foot of the altar ? Why not at the altar proper ? It 
all has its beautiful reasons. The altar is a symbol of 
heaven, from which we are all excluded by sin. Hence, 
follows the Confiteor, which is an acknowledgment in 
a general way of the sinfulness of man, asking forgive- 
ness of sin from Almighty God. 

2. The priest next ascends up to the altar and 
kisses it in the center. Why? Because in the center 
lies the consecrated altar stone, where the bread and 
wine will be changed into the true body and blood of 
Christ, and where Jesus, as true God and true man, 
will repose from the consecration until the communion 
in the Mass. 



378 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

3. Next, the priest goes to the left side of the altar 
and reads the Introit, readings from the Bible, fre- 
quently taken from the Old Testament and are often 
longings, callings for the Savior to come to us with his 
gifts of graces and blessings and in reality upon the 
altar in the holy Mass. 

4. The priest next returns to the center of the altar 
and there recites the Kyrie Eleison, "Lord have mercy 
on us." It is the oldest prayer, that the world knows of. 
1) "Lord have mercy on us," cried Adam and Eve, 
when God drove them out of paradise, after they had 
sinned; 2) "Lord have mercy on us," cried Noe, Abra- 
ham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses for themselves and for their 
people ; 3) "Lord have mercy on us," cried the sick and 
suffering of all kinds to Jesus, when he was on earth. 
Thus also we in the holy Mass; for we need God's 
mercy and we hope to obtain it through this sacrifice 
of mercy. There are nine such calls for mercy repeated 
in the Mass. Why ? Three times to the Father, three 
times to the Son, three times to the Holy Spirit ; three 
times, to honor three times the three persons in the 
Most Holy Trinity. 

5. The Gloria, which is omitted in black and violet 
vestments. It is, like everything else in the Catholic 
Church, from the Bible. "Glory to God on high and 
on earth peace to men of good will," sang the angels at 
the birth of Jesus. Peace of soul, mind and heart here 
on earth and hereafter in heaven, not to men indis- 
criminately, but to those of good will; to those, who 
would have the good will to observe all of the ten com- 
mandments of God and the six precepts of the Church. 
The translation: "Peace and good will to men on 
earth," is wrong. Why that song here in the Mass? 
Because in the Mass Christ is mystically born again, 



CEREMONIES OF THE MASS 379 

coming down from high heaven upon the priests' bid- 
ding. 

6. The priest kisses the altar again in the center 
after the Gloria and turns around to the people, saying 
or in high Mass singing, with outstretched hands : 
"Dominus vobiscum," "the Lord be with you." It is 
from the Bible, too: i) Boaz said to the harvesters: 
"The Lord be with you." 2) The prophet Azarias said 
to king Aza of Juda : "The Lord be with you;" 3) 
"The Lord be with you", said the angel to Gideon, one 
of the twelve judges di Israel; 4) "The Lord be with 
you," said the archangel Gabriel to Blessed Virgin 
Mary. 

7. The Collects are prayers, so-called, because 1) 
they are said for the collected people; 2) because in 
them is collected everything, that the priest must pray 
for in the Mass; 3) in them are gathered together all 
the good wishes and prayers of the people. Jesus, 
Mary and Joseph prayed in the temple together. So 
do we at the holy Mass. 

8. The readings of the Epistle are portions of holy 
Scripture and remind us of the preaching of Saint 
John the Baptist, going before the Gospel of Christ, 
and they are an exhortation for the faithful to read the 
Bible. 

9. The Graduale are other readings of the Bible 
after the epistle, frequently teaching us the particular 
kind of preaching of Saint John the Baptist, that is, 
penance and confession for the remission of sin. 

10. The Gospel are readings of portions of the 
four gospels. The Mass book, containing the prayers 
and scriptural readings for all the various occasions 
and feasts of the whole ecclesiastical year, is now car- 
ried over from the left side of the altar to the right 



380 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

side, where the Gospel is read, or in high Mass sung. 
Why is this done ? It indicates, that by the Gospel of 
Christ we should be brought over from the left side of 
damnation to the right side of salvation and that mil- 
lions have been so brought over in the Catholic Church. 
At the reading, or singing, of the Gospel the people all 
stand out of respect for the Word of God. It teaches 
us to receive with a good and willing heart the preached 
Word of God. 

ii. The Credo is the profession of the Catholic 
faith. It is renewing our faith in everything, that is 
in the Bible, and in everything, that the Catholic 
Church under her divine authority teaches us. (P. 97.) 

12. The uncovering of the chalice typifies the tear- 
ing of? of the garments from the sacred body of Christ 
by the cruel executioners, before they crucified him on 
the cross. 

13. The Offertory consists in the offering up to 
God by the hands of the priest the bread and wine, 
which will be changed by him into the true body and 
blood of Christ. It is doing exactly, what Jesus did at 
his Last Supper immediately before he changed the 
bread and wine into his own sacred body and blood. 
Thus it is all from the Bible. A little water is mixed 
with the wine in the chalice. Why this? 1) This was 
done in the celebration of the Pasch of the Jews, which 
Christ celebrated at that very hour with his apostles. 
It has a beautiful, mystical signification; 2) Christ 
signifies the wine : the people, the water. As the little 
water becomes one with the wine, thus the faithful be- 
come one mystical body with Christ in his holy Cath- 
olic Church. Hence, it denotes the unity of the Catho- 
lic Church with Christ. As the water cannot be sepa- 
rated any more from the wine, thus the true Church 



CEREMONIES OF THE MASS 381 

cannot be separated from Christ; 3) the third reason 
of this ceremony is, also, a mystical reason. Look at 
the twelfth station of the way of the cross. A cruel 
soldier pierced the heart of Christ, after he had ex- 
pired on the cross. Water and blood flowed forth 
from it. Water and .blood signify the two principal 
sacraments in the Catholic Church: a) baptism and b) 
the most holy Eucharist, or if you will, the Mass. 

14. After the offertory the priest goes to the left 
side of the altar and washes his hands. This ceremony 
is called the Lavabo. It signifies : 1 ) that the people 
should come with a pure intention and a good heart to 
assist at the holy Mass; 2) the mystical meaning is 
taken from the Bible : When Pontius Pilate saw, 
what injustice he had done in condemning the innocent 
Jesus to death, he went out and washed his hands. 
This ceremony is a reminder to keep the mind and 
heart clean. 

15. After the washing of the hands the priest turns 
around toward the people and says : "Orate, f ratres," 
"Pray, brethren/' It is an admonition of Christ's 
command to pray. 

16. The Secreta, secret prayers, of the priest are 
in imitation of the retiring of Jesus to pray quietly all 
alone. The silent prayer is symbolical of all of the 
workings of God : Silently he created the world ; silent- 
ly he causes the laws of nature to work; silently the 
sun rises, shines and sets ; silently the dew falls ; silent- 
ly the grain, grass, flowers, fruits grow; silently God 
sends his precious graces into our hearts, if we silently 
prepare them for it by true contrition, sincere confes- 
sion and by acts of true faith, hope and love. 

17. The Preface, sung in high Mass, is the greatest 
song that the world ever heard. It never gets old. Its 



382 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

authorship is unknown. The greatest musicians have 
said that they were willing to give up all other compo- 
sitions, if they could compose one melody like that of 
the preface. 

18. The Canon, reminds us of the prayer of Jesus 
in the garden the evening before his suffering and 
death. Some of those prayers in holy Mass are called 
canon, which means law, statute, because they remain 
the same in every Mass, while other parts change with 
almost every Mass. That is the reason, why the Mass 
book is so large. The canon is a prayer for the Church, 
for her chief officers, for all her members and for all 
the world, for God's kingdom on earth. 

19. The Consecration is the real act of the priest 
of changing the bread and wine. The raising up of the 
sacred host and chalice signifies the lifting up of Christ 
on the cross. The separate lifting up of them signifies 
the separation of the soul of Christ from his sacred 
body at his expiration on the cross. 

20. The crosses, which the priest makes over the 
consecrated host and chalice and the genuflections be- 
fore them signify the insults, which the Jews offered 
to Christ at that time. Consequently, it is all from the 
Bible. 

21. After the consecration is a prayer for the de- 
parted souls, for some in particular for all in general. 
Why was the prayer for the living before consecration 
and the prayer for the dead after consecration? The 
Mass can be likened to a tree. The priest is the real 
planter of that tree. The living, who are well and who 
will, can assist at this planting, that is, getting things 
ready and supporting him and they, consequently, de- 
serve some of the spiritual fruit ; but the sick, that is, 
the poor souls in purgatory, cannot help any longer for 



CEREMONIES OF THE MASS 383 

anything on earth, but can only partake of the spiritual 
fruit. 

22. The Lord's Prayer is taken from the Bible. 
(Mt. 6, 9.) It is very appropriately recited here, be- 
cause in it are contained all the petitions for all needs 
of both body and soul. In it, too, we recall to our 
minds the four principal reasons, for which Mass is 
offered, as a sacrifice i) of adoration and infinite 
praise, 2) of thanksgiving, 3) of propitiation, 4) of 
impetration. (P. 341.) 

23. Before the priest places the consecrated host 
on the paten, he kisses this golden plate out of rever- 
ence for Christ's most sacred body. That kiss typifies 
the kiss of betrayal of Judas. Consequently, all is 
taken from the Bible. 

24. The priest next divides the sacred host into 
three particles. This typifies the three substances in 
Christ: 1) the divine substance of his person; 2) the 
spiritual, of his soul ; 3) the material, of his body. One, 
the smallest, particle is dropped into the precious blood 
in the chalice. This ceremony signifies, that Christ's 
divine personality was never separated from his soul, 
while it was in Limbo, nor from his body, while it was 
in the grave. 

25. The prayer "Lamb of God" is, also, taken from 
the Bible. Saint John the Baptist called Christ "the 
Lamb of God." It is repeated three times 1) in honor 
of the three divine persons in God, the Father and the 
Son and the Holy Ghost, 2) because he gave satisfac- 
tion for our three kinds of sin, a) thoughts, b) words, 
and c) actions. 

26. The prayer "O, Lord, I am not worthy" is 
from the Bible. (Mt 8, 5.) It is an act of faith, 
hope, love and humility, and the Bible says : "A con- 



384 • CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

trite and humble heart thou, O God, wilt not despise." 
(Ps. 50, 18.) 

27. Holy communion in the Mass is receiving the 
real, true body of Christ under the appearance of 
bread and wine. It typifies the consummation of the 
sacrifice of the cross and the laying of Christ's body 
in the grave. Consequently, it is all from the Bible. 

.28. The purification of the chalice, signifies the last 
little adjustments of the linens about the sacred body 
of Christ, while it was deposited in the tomb. 

29. The covering of the chalice signifies the closing 
of the tomb. 

30. The after-communion prayers are typical of 
the hymn recited by Christ and the apostles after his 
Last Supper, where he instituted the Mass. 

31. The "Ite Missa Est", "go, the Mass is ended," 
typifies the last words of Christ on the cross: "it is 
consummated." 

32. The priest blessing the people in the form of 
a cross with outstretched right hand "In the name of 
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost" 
typifies Christ blessing his apostles in the same manner 
immediately before his ascension into heaven. Conse- 
quently, the words and the act are both from the Bible. 

33. The last Gospel typifies the going out of the 
apostles into the whole world to preach the Gospel, as 
Jesus had commanded them to do, and which has been 
continued in the Catholic Church from that day to this 
and will be done until the end of the world. 

You have received the explanations of 33 of the 
most important ceremonies and prayers in the Mass, 
one for each of the 33 years, that Christ lived on earth. 
Thus you clearly perceive, that everything in the Cath- 
olic Church is from the Bible from her twelve articles 



LATIN LANGUAGE 385 

of her creed to the commandments of God and to her 
own precepts ; from the seven sacraments to the many 
sacramentals ; from her holy sacrifice of the Mass, the 
great act of all true religious worship, to all her cere- 
monies. Study her! The more you will do so, the 
more you will like her and the more you will see, that 
there is absolutely no .superstition about her practices, 
but that all have their solid foundation on the Bible; 
and all is so simple in it, that all can be explained by 
the cards of the card-deck. There is nothing diffi- 
cult, nothing vague about anything in the Catholic 
Church. All is definite and practical for every-day 
life and for the advancement on the road to a happy 
eternity. 

CHAPTER III. 



Latin Language. 

i. The cards of the card-deck speak a beautiful, 
concise, sonorous, rich, sweet and harmonious lan- 
guage. Thus they are a type in this, too, of the Latin 
language, the official and ritual language of the Catho- 
lic Church. This is another one of the many bug-a- 
boos for non-Catholics and for prejudiced people in 
general, who in religious matters consider everything 
superstitious, that they do not readily understand, but 
which, as all others, disappears, when properly ex- 
plained and understood. They say, the Catholic priest 
preaches in Latin. That is pure misrepresentation as 
so many other things, said against the Catholic Church, 
her teachings and practices and against her members. 
There is no class of men, who speak more languages 
than the Catholic clergy. Very few can speak only 
two. Many speak from three to seven. 



386 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

2. Why, then, does the Catholic Church use the 
Latin in the holy sacrifice of the Mass, in the adminis- 
tration of the sacraments and sacramentals and in her 
official ritual in general? This is a regulation of the 
Church. She may change this law, if she sees fit. It 
is not done to keep people in ignorance of what is going 
on. There is no church, that has her members, at an 
average, instructed better in the whole Bible and in all 
authenticated tradition, in all the duties of life toward 
God, toward our neighbor and ourselves, in all of the 
ten commandments of God, in all the various things, as 
they are concisely laid down and briefly explained in 
this book, than the Catholic Church. 

3. The first reason appears from the character of 
the Catholic priesthood. The office of the priest is so 
different from any worldly office, it being that of a 
true representative of Christ, that it ought not to ap- 
pear strange, if he uses a language of his own in speak- 
ing to and with God in his official capacity. He is not 
a hireling. He is sent by God. He does not need to 
wait "to get a call" from a congregation. He does not 
need to ask the people's permission to preach or to per- 
form any other duty of his office. His delegation is 
divine. Consequently, he has divine authority behind 
him. That is the kind of man, from whom to seek 
spiritual guidance and the administration of the holy 
sacraments, the means of divine grace and sanctifica- 
tion. There is nothing more reasonable and nothing 
more natural, than that Jesus Christ would, as he really 
did do, fit out men, gifted with his own divine power 
for the purpose of carrying on the work of saving 
souls. For, as divine power was necessary for the 
redemption of man, thus divine power is necessary for 
the administration of those means, that carry the mer- 



LATIN LANGUAGE 387 

its of that redemption to human souls. But, as God 
did not use his divine power to redeem men except 
through man, that is through his own humanity, thus 
he does not administer his divine means of grace ex- 
cept through man, that is through the priest. All this 
and much more Saint Paul teaches, saying: "Let 
every man consider us as ministers of Christ and dis- 
pensers of the mysteries of God." In offering up the 
holy Mass and in administering the holy sacraments 
and sacramentals the priest stands as mediator between 
God and man. He does not need the assistance of the 
people. He prays not to the people, but to God for the 
people. If God understands his language, of which no 
one will doubt, what more is their wanting? 

4. OBJECTION. "It would be good to have 
the people hear and understand the prayers of the 
priest." The instructed Catholics are not at a loss. 
For they have all those prayers translated in their 
prayer books. Consequently, they are at no disadvan- 
tage. It would be impossible and indecorous to yell 
the prayers so loudly, as to be heard by all the people 
in a large church, and there is no need of continually 
leading others in prayer. Their duty is to pray them- 
selves, because the priest praying for them and leading 
them in prayer, would not fulfill their duty of praying 
and would, consequently, not release them from their 
obligation, nor would it save them. (P. 325.) 

5. Physicians write out their prescriptions in the 
Latin language. Why? Are they superstitious? To 
keep people in ignorance? No; but for just the oppo- 
site reason, so that all such prescriptions can be filled 
out by any pharmacist throughout the entire world. 
For the same reason the Catholic Church has only one 
official language for all the world. A Catholic travel- 



388 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

ing, where he does not understand a sound of the spok- 
en language, on entering a Catholic church, is at home. 
He sees the priest in the same vestments, as at home, 
and hears him pray to God for him in the same lan- 
guage, as at home, and he takes out his little prayer 
book, says the same prayers with the priest, as he did 
at home, and it makes him feel at home and makes him 
realize, that the Catholic Church is the only church, for 
all times, for all places, for all countries, for all classes, 
for. all races and for all colors without any distinction 
whatsoever, and he becomes convinced, as never be- 
fore, that she is the only Church of God, because she 
is the Church for all as God is the God for all. 

6. Saint Paul offered up the holy sacrifice of the 
Mass in Latin. No doubt some of the other apostles 
did the same. They must have understood their busi- 
ness. The Catholic Church is the true apostolic 
Church and keeps up customs, brought from the time 
of the apostles. Can anything be grander? 

7. There are 3,034 languages spoken on earth to- 
day. The Catholic Church speaks them all for the 
purpose of teaching her divine doctrine and preaching 
the Gospel of Christ. There are priests to fulfill all 
these needs. Surely that alone ought to be a suffi- 
ciently strong argument for any right thinking mind to 
admit, that she is the only true Church of Christ, be- 
cause she is the only one carrying out the command of 
Christ to "teach the Gospel to every creature," for she 
is doing so in the 3,034 languages. 

8. There are a great many congregations, in which 
the members speak from two to seven different lan- 
guages. Many can understand only their own mother 
tongue. Consequently, it would be impossible for the 



LATIN LANGUAGE 389 

priest to pray to them in a language, which all under- 
stood. 

9. The confusion of languages is a consequence of 
sin (P. 42). God has chosen the Catholic Church to 
destroy sin, which she is doing ceaselessly by her 
prayers, by her works of penance of fasting and absti- 
nence, by her works of charity and mercy, by her sac- 
raments and sacramentals, by her holy sacrifice of the 
Mass, and especially by the holy sacrament of penance 
in the confessional, where daily countless sins are lit- 
erally wiped out. Consequently, she cannot have any 
participation in sin, not even in anything that savors of 
sin, as the confusion of languages. Far-fetched argu- 
ment? Not at all. Jesus came to destroy sin. That 
was the reason, why he did not want anything about 
himself, that had even the slightest taint of sin. That 
is the reason, why, as man he was conceived and born 
of a mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, who by special 
intervention of Almighty God was preserved free from 
the stain of original sin (P. 196). As he looked out 
for himself to be in a position to have power over the 
devil and his product, sin, thus he looked out to found, 
organize, equip and by the Holy Spirit guide his One 
Holy Catholic Apostolic Church to be free from all 
semblance of sin. 

10. Spoken languages change with time. God is 
unchangeable. Just so truth itself is unchangeable 
"Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall 
not pass away." The Catholic Church was instituted 
by Christ to teach until the end of time those unchang- 
ing truths and to administer his unchanging means of 
grace, the seven sacraments, and to offer up his un- 
changing sacrifice of the Mass, which, as the prophet 
Malachias predicted, is offered up spotlessly every- 



390 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

where until the end of time. To carry on this un- 
changing work unchangeably Christ made his Catholic 
Church unchangeable, and it is but meet and proper, 
that she should adopt an unchanging language for her 
ritual and official language. This unchangeableness of 
the language of the Catholic Church is a symbol of the 
unchangeableness of the happiness of heaven, to which 
the Catholic Church will infallibly lead all without ex- 
ception of race or color, who will do all, that is told 
them in this little book, and thus confide themselves 
fully to the Catholic Church and to Almighty God. 

CHAPTER IV. 

What Catholics do not believe. 

Catholics do not believe and the Catholic Church 
does not teach: 

i. — That the world came into existence by chance; 

2. — That the world gave itself existence ; 

3. — That any other cause but God gave it existence ; 

4. — That there are more gods, than one ; 

5. — That God needs any one for anything; 

6. — That God changes; 

7. — That God can do silly contradictory things, 
which men imagine are real ; 

8. — That God deals out full justice in everything in 
this life; 

9. — That God's goodness and mercy annuls his jus- 
tice; 

10. — That the Father and the Son and the Holy 
Ghost are three distinct gods; 

11. — That God is in need of men's praise and ser- 
vice; 

12. — That God cannot create a better world; 



WHAT CATHOLICS DO NOT BELIEVE 391 

13. — That we have a choice of serving God, or not; 

14. — That God had to create this world, in order to 
become self-conscious; 

15. — That God is in need of our information con- 
cerning things on earth, as some presume to give him, 
even in prayer; 

16. — That God created the world in six days of 
twenty-four hours each and in those six days placed it 
in its present condition; 

17. — That man is descended from the monkey; 

18. — That with death everything ends for man; 

19. — That "one religion is as good, as another" ; 

20. — That "man can be saved in any faith" ; 

21. — That more, than one religion, can be good, true 
and pleasing to Almighty God; 

22. — That all religions are equally good, true and 
pleasing to God; 

23.— That men have a right to choose their own 
faith, religion and church, or none; 

24. — That faith, religion and church, is a matter of 
opinion ; 

25. — That the United States is wrong, just because 
some of her citizens go wrong; 

26. — That the Catholic religion is wrong, just be- 
cause some, who professed it, went wrong; 

2J. — That others should do their thinking for them ; 

28. — That faith, or religion, is obtained by special 
inspiration, or "manifestation" of the Spirit of God by 
most men ; 

29. — That faith is obtained by book knowledge, 
falsely styled education; 

30. — That faith, or religion, can be bought, or sold ; 

31. — That one man can give divine faith to another; 



392 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

32. — That faith ordinarily is obtained in any other 
way, than by the means, designed for that purpose by 
Almighty God; 

33. — That faith alone will save man without good 
works ; 

34. — That faith once obtained and possessed, cannot 
be lost again ; 

35. — That any one can be and remain absolutely cer- 
tain, that he is now saved and cannot fail to go to 
heaven ; 

36. — That it is necessary to experience faith or reli- 
gion through the senses, in order to know that one has 
it; 

37. — That there is any vagueness or uncertainty 
about having the true faith, if God's appointed means 
are used for obtaining it ; 

38. — That man by his own power, separated from 
God's will, can obtain faith ; 

39. — That one man can take the divine gift of faith 
away from another without his consent; 

40. — That men lose their faith through any other 
fault but their own; 

41. — That any one can be saved without the true 
faith; (p. 155) 

42. — That there is any other rule of faith, than God's 
own revelations; 

43. — That the Bible consists of less, than seventy- 
two books; 

44. — That the Bible is any longer the Bible, when 
men change, add, or omit any portion of it ; 

45. — That they are forbidden to read the Bible ; 

46. — That every one has a right to put any kind of 
interpretation upon the Bible's meaning; 



WHAT CATHOLICS DO NOT BELIEVE 393 

47. — That it is absolutely necessary for every one to 
read the Bible, in order to be saved ; 

48. — That all those go to hell, who do not or cannot 
read the Bible ; 

49. — That everything, word for word, is clearly 
written in the Bible, what we must believe, do and 
avoid, in order to be saved ; 

50. — That God himself personally wrote the Bible 
without any human agency; 

51. — That every one receives a special manifesta- 
tion from God to prove, that God has given him faith, 
or religion ; 

52. — That men have a right to expect God to make a 
special manifestation, or revelation, of faith, or reli- 
gion, to each one; 

53. — That we commit original sin by any personal 
act; 

54. — That original sin is forgiven in any other way, 
than by the holy sacrament of baptism ; 

55. — That Jesus Christ is only true God and not also 
true man; 

56. — That Jesus Christ possessed only divine nature 
and not also human nature ; 

57. — That there is any other, but a divine person in 
Jesus Christ; 

58. — That Jesus Christ, as man, has had a human 
father, or that Mary was not his true human mother ; 

59. — That Saint Joseph was anything else, but the 
foster-father for Jesus Christ and the protector for 
his holy mother, Mary; 

60. — That Saint Joseph and the Blessed Virgin 
Mary ever cohabited ; 

61. — That the Blessed Virgin Mary had any other 
children ; 



394 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

62. — That the Mother of Christ can be despised, 
without insulting her divine Son ; 

63. — That the history of redemption can properly 
be read in the Bible from the promise of a redeemer in 
paradise to the coming of the Holy Ghost on Pentecost, 
without reading about God's choice of Mary and about 
her free-will co-operation in it; 

64. — That divine honors are due to the Mother of 
God, or that genuine veneration and respect for God's 
sake, should be denied her; 

65. — That it can be wrong to honor and venerate 
her, whom God himself has so signally honored in 
heaven and on earth, as to make her his own divine 
mother ; 

66. — That, because Christ died for all, all must for 
that reason alone be saved; 

67. — That any one will be saved, to whom some of 
the merits of Christ's redemption have not been ap- 
plied ; 

68. — That Jesus Christ's soul was in the hell of the 
damned, while his body was in the grave ; 

69. — That every one goes to heaven, just because 
Jesus died for all, without his own co-operation, after 
he has obtained the use of reason ; 

70. — That the Holy Ghost descends visibly upon 
every one, who "gets religion", for this "getting reli- 
gion" is so vague ; 

71. — That Jesus Christ founded more than one 
Church ; 

72. — That Jesus Christ commanded the apostles to 
found twelve churches; 

73. — That Jesus Christ made any other, than Saint 
Peter and his lawful successors in office head of his 
one true Church on earth ; 



WHAT CATHOLICS DO NOT BELIEVE 395 

74. — That the true Church of Christ is a republic; 

75. — That men can form themselves into a true 
church of Christ, different from his One Holy Catho- 
lic Apostolic Church; 

76.— That any one is excluded from the true Church 
of Christ on account of race, or color, or condition in 
life; 

yj. — That any one is eternally lost, excepting 
through his own fault; 

78. — That with death all spiritual assistance between 
friends is cut off ; 

79. — That men will arise on the last day in any other 
bodies, than they had here on earth ; 

80. — That any one can buy for himself, or for any 
other, the entrance into heaven with money, or any 
other worldly goods; 

81. — That there will be a separate heaven for differ- 
ent races ; 

82.— That out of hell there is any redemption, or 
that hell will ever end; 

83. — That religion is good and necessary only for 
women and not just as good and necessary for men; 

84. — That there is one standard of morals for wo- 
men and another for men ; 

85. — That it is sufficient for salvation to merely be 
honest ; for man is not religiously honest, unless he is 
honest enough with God, himself and his neighbor, to 
possess the true faith, or at least to seek it and will it 
and to serve God, as God wills it in his holy Catholic 
Church ; 

86. — That it is sufficient for salvation to do good to 
others and to leave out God's service; 

87. — That religion should pay more attention to the 
things, that help to make life pleasant, than to the 



396 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

service of God and the eternal salvation of immortal 
souls ; 

88. — That any one can be saved without the three 
divine virtues of christian faith, hope and charity ; 

89. — That it is sufficient for salvation to keep only 
some of the ten commandments ; 

90. — That the first commandment of God prohibits 
the veneration of angels and saints, as the special 
friends of God, or, consequently, the treating with due 
respect pictures, images, or relics of our blessed Savior, 
or of his saints ; 

91. — That evil may be done, that good may result, 
or that the end justifies the means; 

92. — That it is sufficient for salvation to merely 
avoid, what is forbidden, and not, also, do, what is 
commanded, by the ten commandments. 

93. — That men without the assistance of God's 
grace can obtain eternal salvation ; 

94. — That there are more or less, than seven holy 
sacraments instituted by Christ to confer grace ; 

95. — That the mere telling of the sins to the priest, 
obtains their forgiveness without also fulfilling all the 
other requisites for absolution; 

96. — That any one can buy forgiveness of sin, or 
pay for the absolution of the priest in the confes- 
sional ; 

97. — That any one can buy indulgences, or forgive- 
ness of the punishment due to sin, after the sin itself 
has been forgiven; 

98. — That any civil government, or any human pow- 
er, can grant divorce from the marriage bond; 

99. — That the Pope has a right to dictate politics in 
civil matters; 



WHAT CATHOLICS DO NOT BELIEVE 397 

ioo. — That there is any other safe road to heaven, 
than the road pointed out by Almighty God himself in 
the Old Testament and by Jesus Christ in the New 
Law, that is, i) the road of the commandments of 
God, 2) the Gospel of Christ, as explained and inter- 
preted by the authority of his One Holy Catholic 
Apostolic Church, 3), the precepts of this Church, 4) 
prayer, to which the sacramentals belong, and 5) the 
worthy reception of the sacraments. 

CONCLUSION. 



Reader, if you are a Catholic and if you have pe- 
rused this book attentively with a good and willing 
heart, you are now a better instructed Catholic, than 
you were before : if you remember the essential things 
in it, you are a well instructed Catholic. If you are 
not a Catholic and if you have read it with the same 
good qualities of mind and heart and if you were pre- 
judiced against the Catholic faith, religion and Church 
before, you surely ought not to be so any more. If 
you are not yet convinced, that the Catholic faith was 
given by God himself, that the Catholic religion is 
God's own bond between himself and man, and that 
the Catholic Church is God's own institution, then you 
are at least in doubt, which is, and then, as a reason- 
able, prudent being you are obliged in conscience to 
seek to clear up your doubts in this most serious mat- 
ter of your eternal salvation. The proper course to do 
this is earnest prayer for enlightenment and then ask- 
ing for instruction from some religious expert, from 
any priest. 

You have followed the author clear through from 
beginning to end. There are 99 things, in which you 



398 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

agree with him, to one, in which you differ from him. 
In whose favor should you decide your own case? 
Your duty is clear. Courage! my good friend. There 
is nothing to discourage you, nothing should, nothing 
can, keep you back from doing all in your power, to 
render secure your eternal welfare. . Do so now and 
keep on doing so. When your last hour comes, as it 
infallibly will and sooner than you expect, you will not 
be sorry for having listened to the call of divine grace 
and you will bless God for inspiring the author to write 
this little book. 



Farewell ! 



INDEX 



Note: The heavy-faced matter and numbers represent the pages of card-illus« 
trations and the most important pages of the subject. 

Page 

Aaron 52, 57 

Abel, Figure of Christ 3 8, 40 

Abeson 63 

Abiron 59 

Abdon ; 63 

Abimelech 63 

Abomination in Marriage 30 5, 347 

Absalon 67 

Abraham 4 3, 4 4, 5 0, 2 01 

Abuse in Cards 247 

Ace 36, 40, 182 

Aces , 34 

Ace of Clubs 218 

Ace of Diamonds ISO, 2 6 3, 270 

Ace of Hearts 98, 102, 119 

Ace of Spades 3 4, 182 

Achab 71 

Adam 38, 50 

Acts of Faith * 151-175, 286 

Acts of Hope 277, 286 

Acts of Charity 27 8, 286 

Adam and Eve 38, 143 

Their sin 182 

Adam and Eve were destined to Heaven 38, 143, 148, 182 

Advantages in the Catholic Church 15 2, 

164, 173, 175, 196, 180, 220, 237, 255, 262, 350, 366, 384 

Adventists, for 132, 228, 295 

After-communion Prayer 382 

A ge of Cards 15 

Age of 16 patriarchs 49 

Age of Pictures 7 

Aggeus , 74 

Ahilaon 63 

Alexander 21, 23 

All men destined to Heaven 14 8, 179 

All men alike, all different 101 

"All religions equally good" 158 

All is clean-cut in Catholic religion 15 2, 164 

Alb 372 

"All religions alike" 158 

Altar 56 

Americans fair-minded 9, 12, 13 

Aman 79 



400 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

Page 

Amice ( 372 

Anarchism 27 

Andrew 86, 97 

Angels 38, 42, 75, 135, 207 

Angels, beauty of 136 

Angels 300 times in Bible 136 

Angel's nature 136 

Angel's knowledge 136 

Angel's number 138 

Angel's difference 138 

Angels, guardian 139 

Angel's power 137 

Angels, 9 choirs of 138 

Angel's splendor 137 

Anger ,... 296 

Animals ....37, 131, 133, 308 

Anna 79, 81 

Annas 216 

Antiochus 70 

Aod 63 

Apostacy 177 

Apostle's Creed 90, 94-97 

Apostles, names of 86, 9 7 

Apostolicity of the Catholic Church 251 

Apostles were to do, what Christ did 92 

Apples, good and bad 177 

Archangels, four 138 

Arabian Desert 54-59 

Ark 40, 6 1 

Figure of Catholic Church 40, 5 8, 61 

Articles of Creed 06 

Ascension of Christ 92, 228 

Aser 46 

Ashes 359, 360 

Asia Minor 82 

Asperges 358 

Ash- Wednesday 359, 360 

Assyria 6 8 

Athletes 306 

Attributes, fifteen, in God 110, 107-117 

Attributes, five, of God knowable from His nature. 107 

Attributes, five, of God knowable from the creation of the world 110 
Attributes, five, of God knowable from the creation of man. . . 114 

Author's friends 14 

Authority, respect for 42 

Author's experience 9, 11, 13 

Author's reward 14 

Avarice .41, 167, 269, 316 

Avenues of success open to all 18 

Autumn 33 



INDEX 401 

Page 

Babylonian Captivity 69 

Babel, Tower of 4 2 

Backbiting 311 

Bad company . 178, 182 

Bad books 178 

Bad Catholics 168, 256 

"Bad men in Catholic Church" 168, 256 

Badge of a Catholic 157 

Baltazzar ; 7 

Banner, Catholic 15 7 

Baptigm, figure of '. 5 3 

"Baptise" does not mean "immerse" 329 

Baptism of children 182, 328 

Baptism of Jesus 8 4 

Barac '. . 6 3 

Bartholomew * 8 5, 9 7 

Beautiful story of Egyptian Joseph 4 6 

Beauties of angels and men and creation 137 

Beauties and harmony in the universe prove God 9 8 

Beauties of the Catholic Church 15 2, 

164, 173, 175, 176, 179, 220, 237, 266, 270, 350, 366, 384 

Beauty, human and angelic 137 

Beeswax candles 360 

Begging •. 2 09 

Being in good faith 156 

Belief, what is it? 150-175 

Benediction with the Blessed Eucharist 3 67 

Benjamin 4 5, 6 4 

Bethel 4 5, 4 6 

Bethlehem 796, 83 

Bible history of Old Testament by cards 3 6 

Bible and tradition 169 

Bible is what? 169 

Bible, how known to be divine 170 

Bible, if changed 170 

Bible, why inspired 169-170 

Bible, how many books in it 170 

Bible, when it becomes a human book 172 

Bible's inspiration extends to what 171 

Bible, chained 171 

Bible, who wrote it 169 

"Bible, Catholics forbidden to read" 170 

Bible in The Rosary 337 

Bible before Luther 171 

Bible, first printed 171 

"Bible is the only rule of faith" 172 

Bible interpreted 172 

Bible, or Tradition, which did Christ teach '. . . . 174 

"Bible-reading necessary for salvation" 174 

Bible, does it say it is inspired 172 

Bible, or Tradition, which is of greater authority 174 

Bible, what does it say on tradition 1 ~ J. 



402 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

Page 

Bible is inspired tradition 17 4 

Bible, cannot be read without reading about Mary. ..197-207. 364 

Bible-stories for the Rosary 366 

Bible read by cards 35-3 6, 47 

Bible, "Read it and pick out your own religion" 175 

Bible, quotations of 12 

Bible on "All religions good" 161 

Bishop's Office 250 

Birds serve God 38-40, 41, 70, 100, 367 

Birth of Jesus ■. .82-210 

Blessedness of God 117 

Blessing of sign of cross 157-34U, 362 

Blessing, God's of the creation 36-132 

Blessing of children and sick 3 62 

Blessing of priest 3 50-362 

Blessing, power of priests of 3 50 

Blessing crucifixes, medals, pictures 362 

Bona-fide 156 

Boys, how spoiled 280 

Brazen serpent 58 

Brothers of Jesus 197 

Bug-a-boos 315, 330, 352, 371, 377, 385 

Burse 375 

Ceaser 22-23 

Cain and Abel 38-39, 296 

Cainan 50 

Caiphas 216 

Calf, golden 5 7 

California's fruits . . 27 6 

Caleb 59 

Calendar of Cards 311 

Calumny 311 

Calvary 56 

Candles, blessed 363 

Cana-wedding 8 6 

Candle sticks 5 7 

"Can pray at home as well" 288 

Canon of the Mass 382 

"Cannot all believe alike" 103 

Can everyone obtain faith 174 

Can faith be lost 17 8 

"Can be saved in any faith" 158 ^. 

Cards as symbols in general* . . .7-11, 12, 13, 16, 32, 33, 41, 

44, 219, 237, 246, 247, 248, 234, 249, 268, 318, 367, 380 I 

Cards, fifty-two and fifty-three 7, 8, 3 3, 9 4, 315, 32 5 

Cards, colors of 18, 17, 21, 3 8 

Cards, origin 15 

Card-games 19, 29, 31, 250 

Cards, four suits of 8, 16, 31, 3 70 

Cards, figure of visible Church 244 

Cards, club , 17, 18, 20, 24 



INDEX 



403 



Cards, diamonds , _ « „ Pagre 

Cards, hearts 17, 18, 21, 26 

Cards, history of .../.'.'/////.: 16, 19 ' 22 ' 23 

Cards, spades " ' i '«' 'i V V 15 

Cards, types of human race. .'.'. J I' «2' ? 3 

Cards, a calendar '.'.'. 16 ' 27 ' 32 

Cards' language .!.'!. 33 

Cards, combination of . . . * .'....'.'" " *«o " A Y V * ??^ 

Cards in one suit .....]/. ' ' 9 ' 366 

Cards a book . . , /// 33 

Cards, misuse of . . . .,//...../..... 34 ' 365 

Cards reminders of the creed. ..!!!"!" 12 

Cards, face ' * Q V oa * I« " L~" *„ 94 

Care of health ... .....7.'. .'.'.'.'.7/ **? 34> 46 ' 57, 63, 84 ' 37a 

Cassock 2 03 

Catholic, who is he "..".... 3 7 1 

Catholic creed a chain .....'...*.! * 5 4 

Catholic creed, wherefrom ........... 9T 

Catholics, how known .'.'.'., 97 

CathoUc churches, why built ..'.*. \\ '.'. '. ' ' ' ' ' \V Vcc III 

Catholic church building a little world. ' ' III 

Catholic Church does not teach 10O things.' '.'. oq* 

Catholics do their own thinking. *Z.° 

Catholics do not believe 10O things! ! ! ooS 

Catholic Church true tc ► the Bible 60,' 67,' 68,' Vi, So] * 8 V, 

o^«^^J^•^*« , ■ 3i5 ' 349 ' 366 ' 388 ' 39 <> 

Catholic Church's sacerdotal power. ... " 242 

Catholic Church's shepherd power . " " " 243 

Catholic Church free from sin .....'*' " 243 

CathoUc Church only true one//. ' * 252 

75, 59, 68, 69, 76, 81, 85, 86/92,' 152,* YeV/ifs * i 75 

Catholic Church friend ofTe poo^ ffJl ^ 309 ' 35 ° ; 366 ' 38 * 

Catholic Church, figure of 29 

CathoUc Church and labor unions. ...... . . .42-46 

Catholic Church must be obeyed ' ' ' * 28 

Catholic Church complete .WW .' '.266,' 270, 35 2 ' VeV lit 

Catholic Church predicted 41 7i «2 

Catholic Church visible ....*.' WWW " ' 24 ° 

Catholic Church and labor ." " WW W 24 ° 

Catholic Church true friend of labor. WW 29 

CathoUc Church stands for charity, justice and equality .'.WV, ** 

CathoUc Church, definition of 31 ' 318 ' 368 ' 387 

CathoUc Church, is what? '.'.'.'. 24 ° 

Catholic Church's rights to make laws'. WW. 94V VnV 00? 

CathoUc rule of faith 43 ' 3 ° 4 ' 384 

CathoUcity of Catholic Church oil' lit 

Caterpillar J51 ' 359 

100 



404 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

Page 

Celibacy 344 

Center of all true worship 338 

Certainty in Catholic religion 15 2, 

164, 173, 175, 176/ 180, 220, 237, 258, 265, 340, 368, 384 

Ceremonies in the Catholic Church 290, 377 

Ceremonies of the Mass 377 

Ceremonies in Old Law 5 2, 290 

Cham 41 

Champions 306 

Chain of creed 9 6 

Canaan * 4 3, 5 2, 5 3 

Changeableness in men in all things 110-113 

Change of languages 389 

Chance, what is it 32, 98, 124 

"Chained Bible" 169 

Charity, what is it 277 

Charity, faith and hope 27 7 

Charity, how exercised? 2 8, 42, 8 0, 280. 

Charity presupposes faith and hope , 27 7 

Charity toward God 27 7 

Charity, obligation of 27 7 

Charity, how increased? lost? 277 

Charlemagne 22, 2 3 

Charles VI 15 

Charms 294 

Chasuble 374 

Cherubim 147 

Children murdered 84-210 

Children infected with original sin , 183 

Children, baptism of 18 3-290 

Children, how to spoil 299 

Chosen People 51, 54, 50 

Christ 185 

Head of Church 244 

Christ ordained the apostles 265, 320 

Christ himself officiated on earth 263 

Christmas 8 5-210 

Christ invisible head of Church 24 4, 2 64 

Church of Christ, definition of 24 

Church of Christ visible 241 

Church of Christ infallible 244 

Church's key-power 2 4 4, 3 56 

Church dedication 367 

Church buildings, need of 5 8, 288, 316 

Church's support 288, 316 

Church's object 24 7 

Church is for sinners 250 

Church triumphant 254 

Church suffering . > 2 54 

Church militant 254 

Churching of mothers 364 

Church building a little world 3 67 

Cincture 373 

Claim to holiness by some 114 

Cloud 5 4, 100 

Clubs 18, 19, 33, 40 

Clubs, color of 18-2 8 3 

Club ace - 218 

Club two-spot 215 

Club three-spot 217 

Club four-spot 218 

Club five-spot 216 



INDEX 405 

Page 

Club six-spot 318 

Club seven-spot 220 

Club eight-spot 74 

Club nine-spot 262 

Club ten-spot 219, 284 

Club jack . . . . 27 

Club queen , 26, 202 

Club king 21 

Coal from the sun .- 137 

Collects • . 352 

Color of cards.' .' .' ." .' . 16, 17,' 21, 39, 65/181/ 283,' 287\ 349, 376 

Color of vestments 376 

Combination in cards 32, 3 3, 5 0, 3 38 

Commandments of God 55-283 

Commandments of Church 317 

Common people , .^ 2 6 

"Come, take religion" 224 

Communion 34 

Communion does for us 3 40 

Communion at Mass 384 

Communion of saints 4 6, 7 6, 256 

Company, bad 17 8, 184 

Competency for old age 18, 29, 315 

Completeness of Catholic Church 15 2, 

154, 173, 175, 177, 180, 220, 237, 261, 285, 350, 366, 384 

Conception 305 

Conception of Christ 193-194 

Conception, immaculate, of the Blessed Virgin Mary 194 

Confession 64, 73, 85, 87, S8, 293, 330, 332 

Confession natural 333 

Confession curative and preventive 336 

Confession in Old Law 331 

Confession in New Law 332 

Confession a divine, not a human, institution 332 

Confession by heathens 333 

"Confession to God alone" 335 

"Confession degrading" .313, 334 

"Confession makes sin easy". 336 

Confirmation 338 

Confiteor 37 7 

Confusion of languages 41, 385 

Confusion of languages a consequence of sin 4 0, 385 

Conscience 2 8, 101, 26 0, 285 

Consecration at Mass 339, 3 82 

Consulting spiritualists 295 

Contents of Bible 168-170, 235 

Contradictions in beliefs , 159 

Converts, seven-hundred to the Catholic Church 162 

Cope 375 

Core 59 

Corporal 375 

"Costs too much to be a Catholic" 17 7, 288 

Cousins of Jesus 76 

Covering of chalice 37 5 

Create, means 11-123 

Creation of world 3 6, 9 9, 123 

Creation of world in six days 3 6, 126 

Creation of man, lesson from ^ 37 

Creation-days 3 6, 124 

Creation-periods 3 6, 124 

Credo in the Mass 380 

Creed 94, 97, 380 



406 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

Page 

Creed by cards 94 

Christian Catholic, who is he? 155 

Criticisms 8 

Criminals believe in private interpretation of Bible 171 

Cross of Christ 9 0-216 

Crosses, priest makes in Mass 382 

Cross, sign of, how made 155 

Cross, sign, why made? 157 

Cross, fourteen stations of 217, 363 

Cross of Christ, where placed 221 

Crucifixes, blessing of . . . . " 3 63 

Cruel men 302, 308 

Cruelty to animals . . . . 302, 308 

Curse of parents 41 

Curse of original sin 181, 191, 348 

Curse on priest-hunters . . %. 57, 61, 69 

Cursing 294 

Dan 46 

Daniel 70, 73 

Judgment of 7 9 

Dathan . . . 59 

David 20, 23, 65 

Figure of Christ 5 5, 6 6 

Damnation is not against God's goodness. 112 

Day, first of 24 hours 3 6 

Days of creation 3 6 127 

Day, 1st of creation 3 6, 127 

Day, 2nd of creation 36, 128 

Day, 3rd of creation 36, 128 

Day, 4th of creation 3 7, 129 

Day, 5th of creation 37, 130 

Day, 6th of creation 3 6, 131 

Day, 7th of creation 3 7, 131 

Days in cards 3 3, 324 

Dead Sea 43 

Death, what is it 265 

Death of Christ 91, 216-220 

Death, three kinds of 219 

Death of impenitent murderer 219 

Death of penitent thief, Diamas 219 

Death of priest-hunters 61 

Debbora 58-63 

Decrees of God unchangeable 109 

Dedication of world 133 

Dedication of a Catholic church 3 67 

Definition of true Church of Christ 237 

Deluge 40, 187, 201 

Denial of divinity of Christ 188 

Dependence of man on God v 109 

Despondency .....254, 292 

Destroying angel 51 

Devil tempting Christ 84-210 

Devil putting price on human soul 84-210 

Devil claiming the world 84-104 

Devil, does he exist 141 

Devil, who is he 141 

Devil, who made him 141 

Devil, where is he 142 

Devil, what does he do 3 7, 142 

Diamonds of cards 18, 19,26, 33 



INDEX 407 

Page 

Diamonds, color of 17, 26, 284 

Diamond ace 150, 2 72, 27 8 

Diamond two-spot 134, 168, 17 5, 270, 27 5, 278 

Diamond three-spot 205, 2 58 

Diamond four-spot 139 

Diamond five-spot 213, 211 

Diamond six-spot 187 

Diamond seven-spot . . . • 203 

Diamond eight-spot 362 

Diamond nine-spot 137 

Diamond ten-spot 283 

Diamond jack , 27 

Diamond queen 26, 2 

Diamond king . 23 

Did Christ command the Apostles to write the Bible 168 

Difference of Adam's sin and our original sin 183 

Difference of angels' sin and that of Adam and Eve 183 

Dignity of man 28 

Disrespect for parents and authority 41, 42, 67, 7 5 

Disrespect for priest 5 8, 6 5, 7 0, 8 9 

Distinction of three persons in God 120 

By their works 122, 220, 223 

Distribution of land among eleven tribes 60 

Dives, rich man , 114 

Divinity of Jesus Christ 187 

Divine Province 132 

Division of ten commandments on two slates 56 

Division of land among eleven tribes 5 8-61 

Division of sacred host at Mass 355 

Divorce 85, 348 

Do all the good you can 19, 281 

Does God compel anyone to have faith 151, 188 

Does Paradise still exist on earth 148 

Does God create any more 3 6, 132 

Does Catholic Church attain her object 253 

Dolors, seven of B. V. Mary 186 

Dominations of angels 138 

Dominions of angels 137 

"Dominus vobiscum" 379 

Do to others, as you wish them to do to you 17, 28, 80, 281 

Doubts in faith, religion, church 9 8, 2 67 

Doubts solved 105, 108, 112, 122, 152, 165, 167, 

172. 180, 219, 244, 250, 255, 288, 315, 316, 336, 344, 349 

Dove 40-122 

Dream of Jacob 4 5 

Dream of Pharao 4 6 

Dreams , 29 5 

Drink 41, 42, 54, 60, 300, 309 

Drunkenness, evils of 41, 4 2, 5 4, 30O, 309 

Duty of married people 300, 344 

Duty of parents 301 

Duty of children 281, 302 

Duty of masters 28, 305 

Duty of neighbors 305 

Duty of people toward pastor 305 

Duty of servants 2 8, 305 

Duty of civil officers 305 

Duty of subjects of government 305 

Duty of state 306 

Duty of young people 305 

Duties of particular state of life 306 



408 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH,. RELIGION 

Page 

Earth's changes 109, 111 

Earth's duration 99, 109-111, 123 

Earth subject to Adam and Eve 37 

Easter Sunday 22 0, 295 

Education, wrong 299 

Effects of original sin source of merit 183 

Egyptian Joseph 45, 46, 49, 7 7 

Eight of clubs 74 

Eight of diamonds 362 

Eight of hearts . 190 

Eight of spades 73 

Eight-spot 84 

Eighth article of creed 236 

Eighth commandment 5 6, 314 

Eight woes : 74 

Electricity 13 7 

Elements regulated 137 

Eleazar 71 

Eleventh article of creed 265 

Elias 71 

Eliezer 4 4 

Elizabeth 64, 81, 83 

Eliseus 71, 362 

End of world 232 

Enmity 116 

Enoch 50 

Enos 50 

Epistle 379 

Equality among men 27-29 

Equality in human body 2 8 

Equality of goods 27, 106 

Esau 4 5 

Esther 26, 79 

Eternity 3 5 

Eternal life 253 

Eternal damnation not against God's justice 115 

Eternity of God 10 8 

Eucharist . . . 5 5, 58, 339 

Eve 38, 78, 80, 82 

Everything says, there is a God 99 

Everything clean-cut about the Catholic Church 15 2, 

164, 174, 180, 220, 237, 261, 270, 349, 366, 385 

Evil in world not against God's justice 73, 115 

Experts on law, medicine and religion 166, 168 

External worship 108, 290 

Ezekias 73 

Extreme Unction . 349 

Face cards 34, 46, 5S, 61, 63, 83, 86, 372 

Faculties of the soul ^ . 14 5-288 

Faith, what is it; "One as good as another" 150 

Faith a divine light 176 

Faith a divine virtue 14 9, 154 

Faith, how obtained 149, 154, 176, 177 

Faith necessary for salvation 152 

Faith felt by senses 195 

Faith a plant 195 

Faith alone cannot save man 196 

Faith, how and why lost 196 

Faith within the reach of all 195 

Faith and hope 272 



INDEX 409 

Page 

Faith, hope and charity 2 7 8 

Faithfulness of God 117 

Faith, three divine persons share in it 27 8 

False religion 159 

False testimony 320 

Fast and abstinence 296, 319 

Fasting of Christ 8G, 210 

Father of B. V. Mary . . . *. 7 7 

"Father" for priest ..,..." 24 7 

Fault, none in Bible with the preacher 88 

Fickleness in faith 292 

Fifteen attributes in God 107-117 

Fifth day of creation 88, 130 

Fifth article of creed 225 

Fifth commandment of God 307 

Fifth precept of Church . \ 320 

59,488 combinations in cards 34 

Fifty-two and fifty-three cards 7, 8, 34, 94, 209 

Figures of the Catholic Church 42, 46, 67, 241 

Figures of Catholic church buildings 5 9, 288 

Figures of priest 4 2, 57 

Figures of the Mass 40, 44, 53, 85 

Figures of Eucharist 4 0, 4 4, 5 5, 5 8, 6 2 

Figures of Jesus Christ. 40, 41, 43, 44, 50, 53, 54, 55, 62, 73, 85 

Fire 137 

Firmament 117, 119 

First article Apostle's Creed 9 8 

First Pope 247 

First commandment of God 5 5, 2 88 

First precept of the Church 319 

First day of creation 3 5, 127 

First person of the Most Holy Trinity 118 

Fish served God 128-129 

Fishing at Genesareth 86 

Five of clubs 216 

Five of diamonds 211, 213 

Five of hearts 147 

Five of spades 220 

Five qualities of the soul 145 

Five senses of the body 144 

Five-spot 3 7 

Five wounds of Christ 219 

Flattery 18, 311 

Florida's fruit 276 

Fool says, "there is no God" 9 8, 14 6, 247 

Flowers 1 00, 3 6 6 

Forbidden societies 3 6 6 

Forbearance of God 116 

Forgive injuries 304 

Forgiving fully t 116 

Forgiveness of sin 328 

Forgiveness of punishment due to sin 266-282 

For what will each one be judged by God 231, 236 

For what did God create the world 124 

Formation of mountains, rivers, lakes, hills 3 6-128 

Fornication 318 

Fortune-telling 293 

Forty days fast 86 

Foster-father of Jesus 8 2 

Fountain of true worship 339 

Four of clubs 218 

Four of diamonds 139 



410 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

Page 

Four of hearts 133 

Four of spades 234 

Four suits of cards 33, 251*, 28 6 

Four-spot 37 

Four seasons of the year * . 33 

Fourth day of creation 37, 129 

Four glasses of beer .' 306 

Fourth article of creed 214 

Fourth commandment of God 55, 300 

Fourth precept of Church ' 320 

Fourteen stations of cross 217, 363 

Fragment of cards, faith, hope .' 27 3 

Franks 2 2 

Free-will Ill, 112, 14 6, 28 8 

From whom to learn religion 13, 1 6 6 

Fruits of the death of Christ 222 

Fruit of hope 27 6, 277 

"Fundamental truths sufficient for salvation" 152 

Gabriel 82, 137, 185, 194 

Gad 4 6 

Gambling 10 

Games, card 19, 28, 30 

Games on Sundays 296 

Genessareth, Lake 86 

General judgment, how, when, where 233-236 

Genuflections in Mass 382 

Gideon 63 

Ghost, Holy 118 

Gifts of body 144 

Gifts of soul 145 

Girls, how spoiled 299 

Gloria in the Mass 378 

Glory of God 83, 117 

God's attributes 107, 117 

God's blessing on everything 3 6, 132 

"God is Love" 98 

"God alone can forgive sin" 355 

God's existence proved from world 99 

God's existence proved from conscience 101 

God's existence proved from human heart 101 

God's existence proved from history of all races 102 

God's existence proved from human language 102 

God's existence proved from Bible 103 

God, who is he 104 

God, definition of 104 

God's eyes, ears, hearts, arms , 105 

God, from whom all good comes 108 

God, what is he 104 

God, how is he 118 

God's necessity 107 

God's eternity 108 

God does not exist in time 108 

God's independence 109 

God's infinity 109 

God's unchangeableness 109-3 57 

God's omnipotence 110 

God cannot make an angel out of the devil 110 

God is Almighty 110 

God cannot make a saint out of a sinner 110 

God omnipresence Ill 



INDEX 411 

Pagre 

God is present everywhere, means Ill 

God's omniscience 112 

God knows all 112 

"God knows who will be saved" : 112 

God is all-wise 112 

God does not change his decrees 109 

God does not change his promises 109 

God does not change his threats 109 

God is all-good " 113 

God is all-holy 114 

God is all-just 115 

God's mercy 116 

God is most merciful and forbearing 116 ^ 

God is all- truthful and faithful 117 

God is most blessed and glorious 117 

God's highest creatures. .« 13 5 

God's property 104 

God is not mocked . 6 3 

God, the Father . . . . 118 

God, the Son 119 

God, the Holy Ghost 119 

God redeemed man by his own humanity 186 

God wants all men to be saved 11=2, 17 6 

God works through Mary 38, 78, 80, 81, 90, 191, 198 

Golden Calf 56 

Goliath 66 

Gomorrah 4 3 

Good Friday 212 

Good name , 310 

Goodness of God 112 

Good will necessary for faith Ill 

Good intention 322 

"Go, the Mass is ended" 382 

Gospel in Mass 379 

Grace , 322 

Necessary for salvation ' 324 

Grace, how obtained 324 

Gradation in creation 134 

Grave 220 

Gradual in Mass 3 79 

Grand-father of Jesus 7 7 

Grand-mother of Jesus 80 

Greeks 21 

Guardian Angel 13 8 

Guess-work, not about Catholic Religion 162, 164, 

173, 175, 176, 180, 218, 234, 254, 265, 350, 366, 385 

Hail Mary 81 

Hand-washing at Mass 381 

Happiest reunion, meeting again 262 

Happy old age. 18, 28, 308 

Harmony in the world 8 8 

Harvest time in the Catholic Church , 260 

Head of Church 241 

Health 303 

Heaven 224, 267, 299 

Heaven and earth belong to God 8 5, 104 

"Hell, there is no" 22 

Hell 268 

Hearts, color of 2 8 4 

Hearts of cards 17, 22, 23, 33, 83, 98 



412 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

Page 

Heart ace, one-spot 9g 

Heart two-spot 187*, 192 

Heart three-spot s ' ng 

Heart four-spot 133 

Heart five-spot 147 

Heart six-spot 127 

Heart seven-spot 132 

Heart eight-spot \\ 19Q 

Heart nine-spot 138 

Heart ten-spot . 216, 283 

Heart jack *. , 27 

Heart queen 24, 81, 198 

Heart king 21, 81, 104, 218 

Heathen religion 159 

Heat is all from the sun 129 

Hebrews 5 0, 5 3 

Heli 63 

Heritics' false claim 266 

Herod 7 7, S4, 212, 217 

Highest creatures of God 13 5 

History of cards 16 

History of all races say : There is a God 100 

History in cards 20 

History of creation in six days 3 6, 126 

History of human race in cards 17 

History on "All religions good" 152 

Holiness of God 114 

Holiness of and in the Catholic Church 250 

Holiness, can it be attained in this life 114, 250 

Holiness of some is false claim 114 

Holiness in Catholic Church 249 

Holofernes 23, 80 

Holy family 121 

Holy Ghost 121, 240 

Holy of Holies 56 

Holy Ghost's inspiration of Bible 16 8, 170 23 2 

Holy Ghost guides the Church 232 

Holy Ghost's coming 9 2 

Holy Ghost's names 237 

Holy Ghost sanctifies 122, 236 

Holy Ghost's work in the Incarnation of Christ. 200 

Holy name of Jesus 188 

Holy fear about salvation 275 

Holy Orders 342 

Holy Spirit 236 

Holy Water 258 

Honor to saints 71 

Hope 271 

Hope, how obtained 271 

Hope and three divine persons 271 

Hope, a plant 271 

Hope, act of 277 

Hope and faith 2 71 

Hope, faith and charity 277 

Hope presupposes faith 271 

Hope, fruit of 2 7 4, 2 7 6 

Hospitality 42 

Hours in cards 33 

How cards teach . • 8 

How Jesus taught 8 

How evil in the world is not against God's justice. ..... .74, 115 

How eternal damnation is not against God's goodness 112 



INDEX 413 

Page 

How suffering is not against God's goodness 74, 115 

"How can sin be forgiven by telling it?" 33 7 

How are Catholics known? 155 

How do we know the true religion? 164 

How and why Catholics know they are right 164, 249 

How do we know the Bible to be divine? 169 

How faith is obtained 151, 174, 175, 223 

How is God in Himself 118 

How were men saved before Christ? 222 

How to be saved....- 2 2 2,. 22 7 

How to love God . 2 7 8 

How should Sunday be 'kept? 3 00 

How to spoil the child 3 2 

How the true Church can be known . 249 

How and why faith is lost 17 6, 218 

How will each one be judged? 2 31 

How to baptize , 3 2 4 

How to pray 320 

How to become a saint 2 4 7, 283 

How to apply redemption to our souls 2 2 0, 321, 322 

Human equality 2 7 

Human body, wonders of 145 

Human society consists of , 2 7 

Humility 22, 15 4 

Human and angelic beauty 13 7 

Husband's duty 318 

Hypocrisy 315 

Idleness 133 

"I do my own thinking on religion" 16 6, 279 

"I do my own thinking on the Bible" 171, 279 

"If God knows all, why are some damned?" 112 

"If God is all-good, why does He damn some?" 113 

"If God is all-good, why do the good suffer?" 113 

"If God is all-good, why do the wicked prosper?" 113 

"If God is all-just, why are some damned?" 115 

If Catholic religion once was the true, why not now? 164 

Immaculate Conception of the B. V. Mary 193 

Immortality of the soul 146 

Impure thoughts and desires 315 

Impurity 17 7, 3 7, 315 

Incarnation of Christ 191 

Increase of faith, hope, charity 273 

Incense 5 6, 363 

Indestructibility of the Catholic Church 244 

Indulgence 262 

Inequality among men 26-28 

Independence of God 109 

Infallibility of the Pope 247 

Infallibility does* not mean 237 

Infallibility of the Church 243 

Infidels 128 

Infinity of God 109 

Injustice to the good 7 4 

Injury to the soul 30 5, 309 

Inspiration of the Bible 168-170-235 

Inspiration of each man 165-174 

Interpretation, private, of the Bible 171, 173 

Intellect 145, 267, 280 

Intercession of saints 246 

Insurance, dishonest. . . . .^ 313 



414 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

Page 

Internal worship 279 

Introit of the Mass 376 

Invisible head of the Church 241 

Isaac 44, 50, 77 

Issachar 4 6 

Isaias 73 

Is it necessary for salvation to read the Bible? 171 

Israel 50 

Israelites, number of 53 

"Ite Missa Est" 382 

Jacks 4, 27, 71, 73 

Jack of clubs 27 

Jack of diamonds 27 

Jack of hearts 27 

Jack of spades 27 

Jacob 4 5 

Dream of 45, 50, 76, 78, 201, 202 

Jacob's twelve sons. . . 4 6 

Jair 63 

James 86, 97 

James, the Younger 86, 9 7 

Japhet 41 

Jealousy*. *. '. ". '. '. '. '. ". '. '. '. '. '. '. " '. . . . . '. '. '. . . . . ! .* . ." .' .38,' 39,' 42, 315 

Jephte 63 

Jericho 61 

Jeremias 7 3 

Jeroboam 6 7 

Jerusalem 68, 77 

Jesabel 71 

Jesus' birth 76, 196 

Public life 85, 199, 243 

Baptism 85, 199 

Fast 86, 199 

Jesus' name in Bible 170 

Jesus twelve years old , 8 3 

Jesus true God and true Man 189 

Jesus our Lord, Lawgiver, Teacher 193 

Jesus, how He taught 8 

Jews 2 

Jewish people 63, 65, 68, 159 

Joachim • 77, 82 

Job, figure of Christ 7 5 

Jochabed 78, 79, 202 

Joel 73 

John, apostle 86, 97, 64, 76, 80, 82 

Joker 32, 33, 57, 141 

Jonas 71 

Jordan 61, 84 

Joseph, Egyptian 4 6 

Beautiful story of 46 

Figure of Christ 48, 78 

Joseph's brothers 46 

Joseph, saint 77, 181, 81, 82, 83, 210 

Josue 59, 61 

Joy of faith and hope 273 

Jude 46, 49, 76 

Judaism, glorified 290 

Judas Iscariot ; 40, 3 6, 91 



INDEX 415 

Page 

Judas Maccabeus 7 6 

Judges of Israel 63 

Judgment, general, how, when, where 233, 236 

Judgment of God 110, 231, 233 

Judgment, particular, how, when, where 236 

Judicial laws in the Old Testament 284 

Judith 24, 81 

Justice of God 115 

Keys, power of in Catholie Church 24 0, 350 

Keys to merits of Christ and to Heaven 2 60, 350 

Killing , . .' 309 

Kings, four 17, 64, 83 

King of clubs 22, 218 

King of diamonds 23, 218 

King of hearts 21, 85, 104, 218 

King of spades ^ . . 21 

King and queen 34 

King of Israel 65 

Kissing altar by priest at mass 376 

Kissing paten, golden plate 382 

Knowledge, opinion, faith, religion 151 

Knowledge necessary for salvation 153 

Knowledge of God 113 

Kyrie Eleison 379 

Laban 4 5 

Laborer 2 8 

Labor elevating 18,29, 309 

Labor honest 18, 29 

Labor unions 18, 29 

Lamb of God 8 4 

'"Lamb of God," Agnus Dei in Mass 383 

Lamech 5 

Lamp of faith 176 

Land among eleven tribes of Jucob 60 

Languages, name of God in fifty-three 101 

Languages, confusion of . . . 4 0, 3 60 

Language of cards 385 

Latin language 385 

Last gospel in Mass " 3 84 

Last Supper 90 

Last words over the grave 360 

Lavabo in Mass 381 

Law must be previous to sin 260 

Lazarus ► . 115 

Lent 360, 360 

Leap-year in cards 34 

Leprosy 8 6 

Lessen from cards 18 

Letters in Bible 170 

Levi 46, 50, 58, 61 

Lies 314 

Light by night 52 

Light, creation of 3 5, 127 

Light of faith 153, 176 

Limbo. 90, 225 

Liquor 40, 42, 54, 60 

Litanies 325 

Lives, vicious 177 



416 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

Page 

Logic true and false 335 

Long life 302 

"Lord be with you" „ 379 

Lord's Day 296 

Lord' s Prayer . 3 2 5 

Lord's Prayer in Mass -. 383 

Loss of faith 63, 178 

Lot I 43 

Lot's wife 43 

Love 16, 19, 97, 265, 277 

Love of God 2 6 5, 277 

Love of self 265, 280 

Love of our neighbor 2 6 5, 2 79 

Love, acts of 2 7 8 

Love of others 279 

Love, different kinds 278, 280 

Lucifer 38, 42, 141 

Machabee, brothers and mother 70 

Machabeus 7 

Magi 83, 197 

Mahommedan religion 150 

Malachias 73 

Malaleel 50 

Man must serve God 149 

Man's dependence upon God 118 

Man's glory 14 8 

"Men from the monkey" 3 7, 131, 13 2 

Man, one of God's highest creatures -. . . 135 

Man, creation of 37, 131 

Man's object of existence 149, 179 

Man, what composed of 143 

Man a double being 143, 237 

Man a whole world 144 

Man's dignity 131, 148 

Man a pilgrim on earth 149, 317 

Man's chief duty on earth. • • •• 149, 317 

Man's qualities of body and soul 144 

"Mane, Thecel, Phares 7 

Manna 54, 55 

"Manifestation of Holy Spirit" 174 

Maniple 373 

Mardochai 7 9 

Marks, four of true Church 249 

Marks of true religion 158 

Maria, sister of Moses 7 8 

Marriage at Cana 8 6 

Mary's cousins 80, .194 

Mary 38, 82, 83, 86, 81, 197, 199 

Mary's father 81 

Mary, meaning of name 195 

Mary, mother of Jesus . 82, 8 9, 198 

Mary's immaculate conception 196 

Mary had no other children 80, 197 

Mary always a virgin 198 

Mary, miracles in 19 5 

Mary, veneration of 199 

Mary's praises from one generation 204 

IMary promised by God 38, 186 

Mary, types of 81, 200 

Mary Magdalene 8 8 



INDEX 417 

Page 

Mathias 8 6,. 9 7 

Matthew 8 6, 9 7 

Mass 3 5, 4 4, 5 4, 8 5, 339 

Mass, same sacrifice as on the cross 341 

Matrimony, law of 3 8, 346 

Master's duty 2 8, 305 

Mathathias . 7 6 

Methusalem . - * 5 

Meaning of carols ; . 16 

Meaning: of sign of cross. ." 157 

Means of obtaining God's graces 3 2 7, 3 52 

Medals, blessing of '. 363 

Meeting again, happiest and saddest 260 

Melchisedech 4 3, 4 4, 5 9 

Membership in Catholic Church 154 

Memory ." 146, 287 

Memento for the dead in Mass 382 

Men getting the big-head Ill, 119 

Mercy of God . . 116 

Michael, saint 138 

Micheas 73, 82 

Millions of years in the creation periods 122-132 

Ministers of worship 5 8 

Minutes in cards 3 4 

Miracles, how performed 139 

Mircales in person of Jesus Christ 194 

Miracles in person of Mary 195 

Mission of Catholic Church. , 282 

Mississippi valley * 130 

Mixed marriage 348 

Misuse of cards 249 

Mixing water with wine in Mass 380 

Moabite 7 4 

Moon... •. 12 9, 3 41 

Monkey, father of man 36, 131 

Money, 17, 18 

Morning and evening prayer 320 

Months in cards 3 2 

Mortal sin 2 6 

Mother 3 2 

Moses..... 50, 77, 201, 205 

Moses' death 61 

Moses twelve times a type of Christ 6 2 

Mount Calvary 5 4 

Mount of Olives 213 

Mount Nebo 61 

Mount Sinai 5 5 

Mount Sion 6 6 

Murderer on the cross of Calvary 215 

Multiplication of one generation 20 3 

Murder 307 

Must faith be felt by senses ? 175 

"Mysteries of faith are nonsense" 154 

Mysteries of faith 119, 15 3, 19 0, 210 

Naboth *. 7 2 

Nabuchodonozor 6 9 

Name of God in fifty-three languages 102 

Name of God in Bible 170 

Name of Jesus in Bible 170 

Name of Jesus, Hoiy IS 8 



418 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

Page 

Name of Mary, meaning of 195 

Names of twelve apostles 8 6, 9 7 

Names of Jacob's twelve sons 4 6 

Names and ages of sixteen patriarchs , 4 8 

Nathan 66 

Natures, two in Christ 210 

Nazareth 7 7, 83, 210 

Necessary knowledge for salvation 153 

Necessity of God 107 

Necessity of reading Bible for salvation 174 

Necessity of a Redeemer 181, 185 

Necessity of Catholic church buildings 288 

Neglect of religious exercise . 176 

Negroes 29 

Neighbor's duty 302 

Neighbor's love 302 

Nephthali 4 6 

Nile 5 2 

New Law, New Testament * 81 

Nine of clubs 262 

Nine of diamonds 137 

Nine of hearts 138 

Nine of spades 261 

Nine angel-choirs 137 

Nine sins of others 261 

Ninive 72 

Ninth article of creed • 23 9 

Ninth commandment of God 315 

Noe 40, 50, 201, 205 

Noe, a figure of Christ 40 

Noe's three sons 40 

No fault in Bible with sower, preacher of Word of God 98 

"No need of a church" 288 

No salvation without faith 152 

Non-Catholics 12 

Not every glitter is gold 18 

Notable women of Old Testament 78-82 

Numerical distinction of persons in God. .... .120, 122, 220, 223 

Oath 297 

Object of this book 8, 9, 10, 12, 140 

Object of Catholic Church 252 

Objection against cards 10, 2 52 

Objection against God 106 

Objection against God's power 110, 125, 129 

Objection against God's omniscience 112 

Objection against God's goodness 113 

Objection against God's justice 115 

Objection against ignorance in Catholics 154, 168 

Objection against confession 333 

Objection to Latin language 387 

Objections solved 101, 112, 115, 124, 129, 152, 

166, 168, 171, 218, 258, 259, 290, 319, 320, 333, 342, 387 

Occupation of each of the nine angel-choirs 137 

Offertory of Mass 380 

Office of nine an gel -choirs *37 

Office of priest 357 

Official prayers of Church by priest 357 

Old Testament in cards 36 

"O, Lord, I am not worthy" in Mass 3 83 

Omission, sin of • 2 2 * 



INDEX 419 

Page 

Omnipotence of God 110 

Omnipresence of God Ill 

Omniscience of God 112 

"One religion as good as another" 158 

One million praises to Mary 204 

Oneness in the Catholic Church 249 

One thousand religions 159 

One person in Jesus Christ 191 

One hundred things that the Catholic Church does not teach. . . 390 

One hundred things that Catholics do not believe 390 

Only one God 104 

Ophni ' 64 

Opinion, knowledge, faith, religion 151, 2 84 

Opinion, private in religious matters 151, 158, 165, 172, 28 3 

"Orate fratres" in Mass 381 

Ordination 342 

Origin of cards * 16 

Original sin 3 4, 181, 241 

Original sin in children. 184 

Origin of the world 122 

Our Father" 3 2 0, 3 56 

Out of what did God create the world? 122 

Over-confidence 274 

Ownership of property 27, 10 7, 2 8 2, 309 

Ozias 6 9 

Palla 375 

Pallas 2 6 

Palms 360 

Parable of leprosy •. 8 7 

Parable of two debtors 8 8 

Parable of Mary Magdalene 8 8 

Parable of prodigal son 8 8 

Parable of good and bad seed 89 

Parable of the sower 8 9 

Paradise 3 7, 3 S, 14 8 

Parents' duties 298 

Particular Judgment, how, when, where 231 

Pasch 5 8 

Paschal Lamb 51, 53 

Passion of Christ 215-220 

Pastoral powers in Catholic Church 243 

Patriarch 42 

Age of 16, 4 9 

Peace with everybody 4 2, 3 07 

People, common 16, 17, 18 

Penance in confession 337 

Penance, sacrament of ... » 330 

Penticost 9 2, 236 

Penitent thief 219 

Periods of creation days 124 

Perjury ' 29 6 

Persecution of Church a good sign 165 

Persecutors of priest 61, 64 

Person of Jesus Christ, only one 191 

Peter, Simon 8 6, 9 7 

Peter's denial of Christ 213 

Peter, first pope 24 

Peter head of Church 240 

Pharao 4 6, 77 

Pharisees 67, 97, 90 



BBBB 



420 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

Philistines Pa f ® 

Philip '. '...'. V '. qa o? 

Phinees ../.......'.'. 64 

Physicians' prescriptions in Latin ' * ' 3 8 7 

SSSTS'S&y/. v.-:. :.::: : : : : : : : : 3 r. **•'}« «•»" v ° ; vv - 3 ™ 

Pius X ' ' ' ' 246 

Plagues, ten of Egypt !.".'"" 50 

Plants serve God .!!.!... 1 00 

Plants withuot sunlight ..!!.!.*..!.!!!! 128 

Plurality of persons in God .".*!!! 118 

Pomp in Catholic Church. . : /,'. .......... 290 

Pontius Pilate *....*.!!! [ 216 

Pope, first one St. Peter '......!.!!.'...... 242 

Pope, meaning of ...*.'.".*. 24 2-2 55 

Pope's infallibility 2 4 2 - 2 5 5 

Pope's power of the keys .'."..'..... 241 

Post-communion in Mass [ . \ 334 

Power of angels 135 

Powers, angel-choir 139 

Power of teaching in the Catholic Church 242, 253, 385 

Power of priest to bless : 2 4 3, 2 5 3, 3 52 

Power of priest to change bread and wine 339 

Power of priest to offer sacrifice and give means of sanc- 

tification 242, 253, 339, . 385 

Power of priest to forgive sins 332 

Power of Church to govern and legislate. 243 

Power of the keys of heaven 3 3 0, 242, 3 52 

Power, all Christ gave to His Church 2 38, 257, 3 5 0, 355 

Pray, how 325 

Prayer, what is it " , . . . 3 2 4 

Pray, if only once in life 324 

Prayer a duty, not a choice 325 

Prayer, necessary for salvation 325 

"Pray, brethren," in Mass 381 

Pray, when 325 

Prayer for the dead, why in Mass 382 

Prayer after communion in Mass 384 

Prayers, official, of Church by priest 357 

Precepts of Church 317 

Predestination Ill 

Preface of this book 7 

Preface in Mass 3 81 

Prefigures of Catholic church buildings 5 7, 28 8 

Present time 3 3 

Presumption 27 4, 292 

President of United States 2 8, 246 

Preternatural gifts of Adam and Eve 14 7 

Price, devil's for human soul 8 4, 210 

Price of Christ's redemption must be applied 218 

Pride 37, 42, 67 

Pride in Heaven , 4 2, 4 3 

Priest successor to 25 2 

Priest ordained 342 

Priests and Sisters 30 

Practicability in teaching. . . 11 

Priest's office of, as "father" 247, 2 5 2, 385 

Priesthood 355, 385 

"Priest a man like other men" 33 3, 35 7, 378 

Priest expert on religion 166, 2 3 6, 243, 358 

Priest's power to bless 23 6, 3 52 



INDEX 421 

Page 

Priest's power to forgive sin 333 

Priest's blessing: 240, 333, 362 

Priest's blessing* of children and sick 363 

Priesthood tribe 5 8, 61 

Priest's type 41, 43, 57, 61, 87 

Priest's persecutors 63, 69 

Priest set aside from people 344, 353, 35S, 372, 385 

Priest a farmer - 3 43 

Priest a soldier ., 3 43, 3 44 

Priest a physician , 343 

Priest a mediator 385 

Priest's official language 385 

Priest's power to change bread and wine 3 4 0, 338 

Priest's blessing of people at end of Mass 384 

Priest-fighters, curse on. ..... t 5S, 63, 69, 90 

Priest God's delegate 5 7, 2 4 6, 3 4 3, 385 

"Priest preaching in Latin'" 385 

Priests are linguists 385 

Priests no hirelings. 246, 343, 385 

Priests unmarried . . . 344 

Principalities of Angels 137, 233 

Private interpretation of Bible 171 

Private ownership of property 25, 310 

Prodigal Son 8 8 

Profanity 294 

Prohibited societies 363 

Promises of God unchangeable Ill 

Promises of a Redeemer 39, 41, 49, 60, SO, 1S6 

Promised Land 51, 52, 61 

Prophets 71 

Prophecies of Mass 7 4 

Prophecies concerning Mary 3 7, 41, 50, 6 0, 8 0, 200 

Protection of mind and body 315 

Providence, divine 123 

Proud lose faith 178 

Proud man's boast of knowledge Ill 

Public life of Jesus 81-91 

Public, external, divine worship 28 0, 285 

Punishment for sin forgiven 244 

Purification of chalice in Mass 356 

Purgatory 4 8, 61, 76, 2 2 2, 255 

Purity 4 6, 311, 315 

Purpose of Catholic Church 252 

Putiphar 4 6 

His wife 46 

Qualities of body 144 

Qualities of soul . 145 

Quail 51 

Queen of clubs 26, 201 

Queen of diamonds 26, 2 01 

Queen of hearts 24, 2 01 

Queen of spades 25 

Queen of Sheba 2 3 

Questions answered 10 4, 112, 115, 12 5, 12 7, 152, 15 3, 

165, 167, 171, 217, 241, 250, 258, 288, 316, 32S, 340, 386 

Questions asked in confession 339 

Races' history says: "There is a God" 102 

Race suicide 321, 309 

Rachel 4 5, 7 8 



422 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

Rainy day , .18, 29, 310 

Raphael 76, 137 

Rash judgment 88, 315 

Raven 41, 42, 70 

Real Presence 335 

Reading: Bible for salvation 171 

Reason on religions , 159 

"Read the Bible and pick out your own religion" 173 

Rebecca 45, 78 

Read the Bible and be saved 170 

Recreation on Sundays 278 

Rebels 59, 68 

Redeemer promised for first time 39, 187 

Redeemer necessary 181, 185 

Redemption through Jesus Christ. . : 214 

Redemption's price must be applied 222 

Red Sea 54, 55 

Regulation of elements and seasons 136 

Rejoice in faith and hope 270 

Relics of saints 7 2, 258 

Religion, what is it? Who can make? 158 

Religion means bond 157 

Religion of Heathen, Jew, Mohammedan, Christian '15 8 

Religion, how find out the true one? 158 

Religions, "All are equally good" 158 

Religion, which taught by Jesus Christ. . 164 

Religion, which is preached everywhere 164 

Religion, which is persecuted 165 

Religious experts 166, 216 

Reputation 310 

Respect for authority « 41, 42, 75 

Restitution 310, 312 

Resurrection of Christ 90, 2 26 

Resurrection of the body 226, 266 

Reunion happiest and saddest 267 

Reward of author 14 

Riches 18 

Road to heaven 18 

Roboam 68 

Rocks split at death of Christ across grain 2 51 

Romans 2 2 

Rome, Church's headquarters 239 

Rosary 209, 211, 364 

A Bible 3 64 

Rosary by Bible stories 365 

Roses 364 

Ruben 46 

Ruth . .• 7 4 

Sabbath Day, first one 3 7, 132, 298 

Sabbath 37, 132, 298 

Sabbatharians, for 13 2, 29 8 

Sacerdotal power in Catholic Church 243 

Sacraments 326 

Sacraments necessary for salvation 3 27 

Sacraments confer grace by their own power 327 

Sacraments not dependent on the man administering them. ... 327 

Sacraments for every day in the year for every one by cards . . 3 2 8 

Sacrament of the Altar 4 0, 339 

Sacramentals « 351 

Sacramentals founded on the Bible. 352 



INDEX 423 

Page 

Sacramentals help us to obtain grace by prayer of Church.. . . 352 

Sacrificial power in Catholic Church 243 

Sacramentals not dependent on the man administering them. . 3 30 

Sacrifice of Abel and Cain 39 

Noe 41 

Abraham 43 

Melchisedech 43 

Sacrifices 5 2, 3 4 

Saddest reunion, meeting again 268 

Sadducees . ,~ 7 

Saints, veneration of, relic,s of, prayers to 70, 257, 259 

Saints, how to become a saint 25 0, 282 

Saint Joseph 77, 81, 83, 300 

Salvation for all Ill, 19 6, 2 2 2, 27 

Salvation impossible without faith 152 

Samaria 6 8 

Samgar .» 63 

Sampson 63 

Samuel I 63 

Sanctification in the Catholic Church 249 

Sanctification by Holy Ghost 12 2, 23 0, 238 

Sanctuary in Catholic Church 5 8 

Sanctuary Lamp 356 

Sara 7 6 

Sarah 44, 78 

Satisfaction for our sins , 18 0, 18 4, 335 

Saul 6 5 

Savior promised 3 8, 4 0, 4 8, 59, 8 0, 184 

Scriptures 168 

Scapular 363 

Seal of the cross .; 157 

Seal of confession 330 

Seasons, who guides them 137 

Seasons, four from cards 32 

Second day of creation . 35, 128 

Second commandment of God 5 5, 296 

Second precept of the Church 319 

Second person of the Most Holy Trinity 12 0, 186 

Second article of the creed 181 

Seconds in cards 3 3 

Secreta in the Mass 381 

Secret prayer 381 

Secret sins 306 

Secret societies 3 66 

Seed, the Word of God 8 8 

Self-abuse 306 

Self-made holiness 115 

Self-love 2 8 

Sem 41 

Senses, five of the body 144 

Sentence, yours at judgment of God 236 

Sentimentality in faith and religion 176 

Sephora 7 9 

Seraphim 139 

Sermon, fault with 8 8 

Servants 2 9, 30 2 

Serpent 3 9 

Brazen 60, 78, 204 

Servile work 296 

Seth 50 

Seven dolors of Mary 197 

Seven, holy number of . 32 8 



^■n^Bi 



424 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH RELIGION 

Seven sacraments ..- 326 

Seven-spot of card . ...".*. ".".". "."."." . .37 58 

Seven capital sins ......'......" .". . 261 

Seven of clubs !.*!!!.*!.[** 220 

Seven of diamonds '.'.'...*/. '.203', 2 2*0*, 32 4 

Seven of hearts t .132 32 4 

Seven of spades ...... ........ .' 321 

Seven-hundred converts, from Protestant ciergry. ,l^.,.l^li 162 

Seven words of Christ on the cross * * . 22 

Seven years of Egyptian famine .....!.!. \ , 47 

Seven young men in fiery furnace "1/.V9 70 

Seventh day of creation . . . ; ! *. 3 6, '"132 

Seventh article of creed *. ...*.'.*.". . .' 224 

Seventh commandment VsV, 312 

Seventy-two disciples '/.*. . / 230 

Sheba, queen of " .... ... 24 

Sick, blessing of ) '. . . . 3 63 

Sign of a Catholic 155 

Sign of the cross, how made 55 

Sign of the cross, wherefrom 156, 157 

Sign of the cross, when made 156 

Sign of the cross, why made 157 

Sign of the cross profession of faith 157 

Sign of the cross seal 156 

Sign of the cross a weapon . 157 

Sign of the cross preaches 158 

Sign of the cross a banner 157 

Silent prayer in Mass 381 

Simeon 4 6 

Simon * . . 86, 97 

Similarity of Mount Sinai and Calvary 5 5 

Sin of Adam and Eve , 18 2, 126 

Sin, mortal 260 

Sin, venial 260 

Sin, curse of 18 3 

Sin, what is it? kinds of? 259 

Sins against first commandment 293 

Sins against second commandment 296 

Sins against third commandment 299 

Sins against fourth commandment 3,06 

Sins against fifth commandment 307 

Sins against the sixth commandment 311 

Sins against seventh commandment 313 

Sins against eighth commandment " 314 

Sins against ninth commandment 316 

Sins against tenth commandment 317 

Sins against hope 273 

Sinai 54 

Sisters of Charity 292 

Six-spot of cards 3 7 

Six days of creation 124 

Six of clubs 318 

Six of diamonds 187, 318 

Six of hearts • 127, 318 

Six of spades 184, 264, 318 

Six precepts of Church 317 

Six stations on the road to hell 269 

Sixth article of the creed 22 8 

Sixteen face cards 4 9, 6 3 

Sixteen patriarchs • 49 

Sixth day of creation 37, 131 



INDEX 425 

Page 

Slander 311 

Slates of commandments 5 4, 5 5 

Snake 39, 60 

Sober students 296 

Socialists 28, 209 

Sociology in cards > 2 0, 2 7 

Sodom . . . . 4 3 

Sojourn in the desert . . . 58 

Solomon 2 4, 6 7 

"Some go wrong in the Catholic Church" 168 

Soul, qualities of 145 

Soul of Jesus Christ truly human 188 

Spade, cards of 17, 18, 23, 27, 33, 182 

Spades, color of . . 17, 172, 264 

Spade ace, or one-spot 182 

Spade two-spot 231 

Spade three-spot .* 219 

Spade four-spot 234 

Spade five-spot ; 220 

Spade six-spot 184, 249 

Spade seven-spot . 221 

Spade eight-spot . . 73 

Spade nine-spot 261 

Spade ten-spot 284 

Spade jack 27 

Spade queen ' . .. 25 

Spade king 21 

Special servants of God 75 

Spirit, what is it 105 

Spiritualists 295 

Spoiling the child 299 

Spot-cards 26 

Spots on cards 33, 160 

Stars serve God 129, 3 66 

Spring-time — • 3 3 

"State of Holiness" false 115, 255 

Statues, blessing of 363 

Stations, six on the road to hell 269 

Stations, fourteen of the cross 217, 3 3 6, 363 

Stinginess 17 7, 288, 340 

Stole 373 

Struck at a priest 6 2, 6 9 

Students using drink 307 

Stumbling blocks, bug-a-boos, for non-catholics 313, 

33 0, 3 5 2, 371, 377, 385 

Suffering of Christ 90, 215-220 

Suffering of creatures is not against God's goodness 7 3 

Suffering of the good on this earth 1 73 

Suicide 3 09 

Summer 3 3 

Sun mourned 215 

Sun's work 129 

Sun served God 13 8, 215, 366 

Sunday 132, 298 

Sunday school boy and girl 2 8 

Supernatural gifts of the soul 148 

Superstition 35 2, 35 4, 36 7, 385 

Support of religion, church, priest 67, 367 

Supreme court in the Church 250 

Sure ways of going to hell 269 

Surplice 375 

Sure ways of spoiling the child 302 



426 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

Page 
Susanna m 79 

Swearing ..,"... 28 V, 295", 3 06 

Taddeus , 86-9 7 

Tabernacle- tent 57 

Taft, President of U. S .'.'.'!!.*!!!!! 246 

"Take Jesus into your heart and be saved" ! ! w * I ! •! 2 24 

Taking religion" 15 8, 220 

Taking God's name in vain 292 

Tassels on cincture of Mass vestment '. . 373 

Teaching power in Catholic Church 2 58 

Temple of Solomon, Jerusalem 69, 70 

Temptations of Jesus '210 

Ten plagues of Egypt 51 

Ten commandments 55, 28 3 

Ten commandments, every one can keep them 286 

Ten commandments, every one must keep them 285 

Ten commandments, every one does two things 284 

Ten commandments, not a burden . 2 85 

Ten commandments, re-inforced by Jesus Christ 285 

Ten of clubs .....213,219, 284 

Ten of diamonds 213, 219, 283 

Ten of hearts 219, 2 2 6, 283 

Ten of spades 2 2 6, 284 

Ten-spot of cards . 83, 213 

Ten tribes of Israel 6 8 

Tenth article of creed 259 

Tenth commandment 56, 316 

Tent of Tabernacle 56 

Testimony false • 310 

Thare 50 

There is a God, proved from existence of world 98 

By human hearty 101 

From ail languages . . . . .^ ♦ 101 

There is only one God 104 

"There is no God" 98-146, 210, 229 

"There is no hell" 2 25 

Thief on the cross 219 

Third article of creed 194 

Third commandment of God 5 5, 297 

Think it over 225, 226, 228 

Third commandment of the Church 320 

Third day of creation 35, 128 

Third person in the Most Holy Trinity 121 

Tholar 5 8 

Thomas 8 6, 9 7 

Threats of God unchangeable Ill 

Three great works of God 122 

Three persons in God 118 

300,000,000 Catholics 156, 162, 369 

Three deaths, which is yours? 247, 219 

Three crosses 219 

Three of clubs 202 

Three of diamonds 205 

Three of hearts 118, 12 2 

Three kings 8 4 

Three of spades 219 

Three-spot of cards 36, 51, 59, 220 

3,034 languages on earth 385 

Through cross to crown 73 

Thrones of angels 139 



INDEX 427 

Page 

Time kept by cards 3 3 

Time, no time before God 109, 122 

Time, what is it? 35, 122 

Time price of eternity 35 

Tithes 57, 59, 297 

Title of this book 8 

Tobias 75, 79 

Too much pomp, ceremonies in Catholic Church 290, 2 77 

Tower of Babel *■ 42 

To-day, yesterday, to-morrow 35 

Trade unions * 29 

To-morrow never comes 3 5 

Tradition and Bible 172, 27 7 

Tradition, what is it 183, 230 

Tradition or Bible, which came first 174 

Tradition or Bible, which of greater authority? 174, 27 7 

Tradition or Bible, which did Christ teach? 174 

Tradition says, the Bible is inspired 174 

Tree of Life 3 8, 4 0, 218 

Tree of Life, where stood? 3 8, 218 

Tree of knowledge of good and evil 3 8, 218 

Trinity of persons in God 85, 118 

Trinity in nature 120 

True religion persecuted 165 

Truths, fundamental, of religion 152 

Truthfulness in God 117 

Trump 18, 22-, 42, 247, 252 

Trust in God 22, 43, 73 

True Church is one 249 

True Church is holy 250 

True Church is Catholic 251 

True Church is apostolic 251 

Twelve apostles . 8 6, 97 

Twelfth article of creed 267 

Twelve articles of apostle's creed . . . . 95 

Twelve brothers ^ 46 

Twelve jewels 9 3 

Twelve loaves of bread . . . . . 93 

Twelve picture-cards 34, 58, 59, 62, 84, 94, 97 

"Twelve sister churches" 247 

Twelve tribes of Israel 4 6 

Twelve judges of Israel , 6 3 

Twelve sons of Jacob 4 6 

Two of clubs 215 

Two of diamonds 134, 16 8, 17 4, 273 

Two of hearts 187, 192 

Two of spades 231 

Two-spot of cards * 3 3, 273 

Two roads to eternity 145 

Two slates of commandments 55, 56 

Two natures in Christ 191 

Two wills in Christ 191 

Two kinds of action Christ 191 

Two things in every commandment 284 

Types of Christ — 

Moses • 61 

David 6 5 

Jonas c , 73 

Job 75 

Types of Christ. . . .38, 40, 42, 43, 48, 51, 52, 53, 60, 66, 72, 75 

Types of Catholic priest 41, 4 3, 5 7, 91 

Types of B. V. Mary 81, 200 



428 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

Types of Catholic Church 41, 4 3, 66, 9 

Types of the sacrifice of the Mass 51, 52, 8 9 

Unchangeableness of God 104, 3 85 

Unchanging language of the Catholic Church .' 385 

Unchangeableness in God's teachings 385 

Uncertainty in religious matters 15 2, 

164, 173, 178, 220, 237, 270, 370, 367, 380 

Uncovering of chalice in Mass 380. 

Under-confidenee 275 

Unions, labor, trade 2 8 

Universal salvation .27 7, 292 

Universities, twenty-five and drink 306 

Universe a book 100 

Unjust law-suits 309 

United States, a figure of the true Church 237 

Unity in God 119 

Unsafe guides in religion 152, 318 

Uriel, archangel 137 

Vagueness, none in the Catholic Church, religion, faith. . .152, 

164, 175, 177, 180, 220, 237, 269, 349, 370, 385 

Veil, benediction and chalice 374 

Veneration of B. V. Mary 196 

Veneration of saints, relics 71, 257 

Venial sin 161 

Vestments, sacerdotal 370 

Vestments, color of 3 76 

Visibility of the true Church 240 

Visible head of the Church 241, 243, 265 

Voice of conscience 10 2, 261, 285 

Washington and the Pope 24G 

Washing hands in Mass 381 

Wasting time 3 3, 123 

Water, creation of 12 6 

Water and wine, mixed in Mass 381 

Water, God's drink 54, 60 

Wax candles 363 

Wealth 118 

Wedding at Cana 9 6 

"We cannot believe alike" 103 

Weapon of sign of cross against the devil 157 

Weeks in cards 3 2 

What says: "There is a God"? 97, 103 

What God cannot do . . . . 110 

What is God • 107 

What leads man to heaven? 150 

What the Catholic Church does not teach 3 90 

What is faith 150 

What Catholics do not believe 3 9 

What religious knowledge is absolutely necessary for salvation 153 

What means to believe 151 

What is a Catholic? 154 

What religion did Jesus Christ teach 159 

What religion is taught everywhere? 160 

What religion is persecuted? , . .160-165 

What the Bible contains 159-167-232 

What plants need to grow? • 129, 196 



INDEX 429 

Page 

What a lamp needs to burn? 176 

What kind of a sin did Adam and Eve commit? 183 

What does the Bible say about Mary 37, 

74, 78, 80, 81, 89, 99, 174, 191, 192, 193, 194, 195, 199 

What must I do to be saved 150 

What does reason say on "All religions good"? 159 

What is the true Church of Christ 5 7, 

60, 64, 68, 75, 80, 84, 86, 91, 152, 163, 173, 175, 

176, 179, 220, 234, 249, 310, 344, 366, 387 

What offices did Christ- perform on earth? 259 

What offices did the- apostles perform after Christ? 2 60 

What does confession do? 338 

What is given for penance in confession? 337 

What is sin? 259 

When to pray? 320 

When does the Bible become a human book? 169 

Where people play cards t and read? 8 

W^here was paradise? 3 7, 3 8, 148 

Where is the world from? 9 8 

Where is the Catholic Bible from? 169 

Which comes first, the Bible, or Tradition? 174 

WMch is of greater authority, the Bible, or Tradition? 174 

Who has the keys to the treasury of Christ's merits and to 

heaven's door? 24 7, 262 

Who is God ? : 10 5 

Who keeps evil spirits in check? 139 

Who performs miracles? 137 

Who regulates seasons? 137 

Who regulates sun, planets, earth and stars? 137 

Who is a Catholic? 155 

Who can establish religion? 158 

Who goes to hell? 26 8 

Who wrote the Bible? Christ? 169 

Why did God rceate the world? 124 

Why so much suffering in the world? 112 

Why are some damned? Ill, 112, 115, 222 

Why Catholics keep the Sunday holy 298 

Why do the wicked prosper? 112 

"Why is man created % 142 

"Why did the Church chain the Bible?" 171 

Why some do not obtain faith? . 176, 22 2 

"Why some lose faith? 17 6, 222 

Why are not all saved? Ill, 222 

Why did Jesus Christ suffer so much 222 

Why priests do not marry 344 

Why priests are called "father" 247 

Why love God % 278 

Why Catholics build churches 56, 288, 317 

Why pray for the living before and for the dead after conse- 
cration in Mass 383 

Wicked prosper? 112 

Will, free, in man 110, 111 

Without faith no salvation . 152 

Will of man necessary for salvation 110, 111 

Winter 3 3 

Woes, eight of Isaias 72 

Wisdom of God 113 

Women, notable of Old Testament 78-82 

Woman 7 3, 3 8, 6 8, 79 

Women on stage 147 

Women preachers 347 

Wonders of human body 195 



■BHBB^H 



430 CARDS, BIBLE, CHURCH, RELIGION 

Page 

Wood-heat from the sun 129 

Wood of the cross of Christ 221 

Word of God 168 

Word of God same as the Bible 168 

Word of God in the Bible 168 

Works, three great of God 122 

Work of Holy Ghost, Incarnation of Christ 192 

Work, of apostles 91, 288 

Work of angels 136 

Work of priests , 288 

Work, honest, no disgrace 18, 290 

World, creation of * 36 

World, where from? 36, 97, 122 

World changeable 110 

World misses no one 108 

World not eternal 97, 109, 110, 123 

Worldly goods 27, 106, 281 

Worship internal 286, 291 

Worship spiritual 2 9 6, 291 

Worship external 286, 291 

Wounds of Christ 271 

Tear by cards 3 3 

Yesterday never with us 3 5 

Your sentence one of three 235 

"Yom" 134 

Zabulon 46 

Zacharias » 74, 7 7 



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